With The Stars
by Broken Locket
Summary: HIATUS! Mello and Matt weren't that much of a threat, but they would doubtlessly get some sort of punishment for taking so long to capture him. Near smirked at the thought. But then after they had failed, what else would he unleash to capture him?
1. Chapter 1: L

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

Yey! New Story started oh yeah! This one came to me in an Astronomy lesson and as I have recently finished the Death Note series (I cried! I cried so hard!) I thought I'd make this a Death Note Fanfic! This first chapter is dedicated to dancers of the night!

_**Disclaimer:** _I do not own Death Note. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

Please enjoy!

**Chapter 1: L**

The day was cold. A harsh breeze rushed through the branches of the bare trees, tormenting their lack of life and leaf. It whistled eerily as it made it's way through, dipping low to make the grass ripple then shooting up high again to swirl and dance in the sky.

It was on a much more subtle current of wind above this, which pushed the vast amount of clouds calmly across the grey sky, a beautiful jet black crow glided through the air, his silky feathers rippling. He studied the thick tangle of branches reaching up towards him, before spotting a suitable enough landing spot. He circled twice before stretching out his long black claws and grabbing the branch tightly. He ruffled his wings and fluffed up his feathers, snuggling his beautiful head down into the depths of his warm, fluffy coat. The bitter wind nagged his exposed claws and poked at the thick body of warmth surrounding his thin skin, failing miserably to penetrate.

Unknown to the crow, a pair of dark grey eyes watched him with a seemingly blank expression.

A young child, his age no more than six lay on an overgrown patch of grass, a thick winter coat wrapped around his thin body, a thick wooly scarf tied loosely around his neck and a pair of black mittens encasing his pale hands in their protection against the cold.

He stared up at the crow, watching it closely, though his thoughts were entirely different, the majority of them based on his previous activity. Reading.

A thick picture-filled book lay open on his chest, abandoned by his hands as fatigue had soon gripped them. They now lay to his sides, reaching out as far as they could from his body, his position somewhat like a star.

The book was a hardback, its release date in the early 1970's, close to his birth. It was a factual book that contained many beautiful pictures that the child found interesting and almost soothing to look at, though most of the words he was yet to understand.

The book was about comets.

He stared up at the crow, his thoughts way up higher than any crow could reach, up with the stars, he was flying through space, glowing brightly with a dusty, feather light tail fanning out behind him.

"L?" The young child was pulled from his fantasies with a rather unpleasant jolt.

"Yes?" He asked quietly, not moving from his position. Truth be told, he was completely comfortable.

"It's dinner time, are you going to come inside? It is very cold outside today; you don't want to catch a cold." L sat up, the book falling to the ground with a soft thunk. His stomach gave a soft growl and he stared at it wide eyed.

"I guess that means you'll be wanting some dinner after all." The black haired boy nodded and got to his feet, picking up the book as he did so. He ran towards an elderly male standing in the doorway of a huge white mansion with masses of ivy covering the white painted stone.

The male gave a warm smile and stepped to one side to allow the young boy to enter. L scurried inside and began to take off his shoes.

"Will there be dessert?" He asked hopefully. The elder smiled,

"Of course, when do we not have dessert?" L thought carefully before smiling and shaking his head,

"We never don't have dessert!" He said happily, "Will it be cake or ice-cream?"

The elder man chuckled, "Don't you at least want to know what you have to eat _before_ dessert? I'm sure Kathy will have cooked you all something nice."

"I prefer dessert, that's all." L stated.

"I know, now hurry or that's all you'll be getting!"

"I don't mind."

"Come along now, you're already late."

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

L sat down in his usual spot, beside another brown haired little boy and a cream coloured wall. To his dismay, nobody had finished their main meal yet so he was unable to determine what dessert was going to be. He stared at his plate of food instead and shuddered. There was so much! How would he finish it _and _still have room for something afterwards?!

"I do hope you are going to eat that and not just stare at it young man." A voice barked behind him, "I've spent all afternoon making it and you won't be getting any dessert until you eat at least half of it." The voice belonged to Wammy House's very own cook, Kathy Green. She had cold blue eyes that instantly made any child do as they were told and thin, graying blonde hair that was always fashioned into a twisted ponytail and covered with a net, then to top it all off a plain white apron that always had at least two globs of food splattered across it. Strangely enough, the food on her apron never seemed to resemble anything that was served up, L often wondered whether he was really eating what he was told was in front of him.

L picked up his fork, feeling Kathy's cold eyes boring into the back of his head. He patted his lips with the end of the cold cutlery, whilst studying the rest of the food on his plate. It seemed to be a sort of stewed meat with sweet potato mash and roasted peppers. He liked most of it, especially the sweet potatoes, they were his favourite kind and the peppers were sometimes nice, as long as they hadn't turned into charcoal as they usually had.

He pushed his fork into the mound of potato and lifted it up into his mouth. The sweet almost sticky food's wonderful taste flowed over his tongue. He swallowed and took another forkful, deeply enjoying the orange vegetable.

He eyed his peppers with the last few forkfuls of potato, quickly examining them for any signs of charcoal. Amazingly, he couldn't spot any. He speared one of the yellow pieces and took a bite out of it happily. The peppers were sweet too and they were crunchy and caramelized around the edges where they had browned slightly from being roasted.

He looked down at his nearly clean plate. His stewed meat sat there staring up at him. He was sure it was alien's food. He didn't like the look of it at all. Huge globules of brown gravy skin slopped over gristly pieces of meat, it had a slight resemblance of tree bark. He pushed it around on the plate and played with it, making it look like he had eaten some of it.

It seemed to work as there was no comment from Kathy as she cleared away his plate and cutlery.

L waited patiently for his dessert, watching as the cook and two other members of the Wammy House staff brought out bowls and set them in front of the children.

Finally he got _his _bowl.

His grey eyes lit up. His favourite fruit sat in front of him, ruby red and gleaming underneath a generous swirl of whipped cream. He grabbed his fork and started to eat immediately, savoring the sweet, slightly acidic taste of the strawberries, accompanied by the rich, milky cream. Bliss.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

An elderly male named Quillsh Wammy, or Watari as he and the children preferred, walked through the long corridors of Wammy House orphanage. It had been three hours since all of the children had finished eating and now it was time for all of them to start getting ready for bed.

He checked in each room as he passed by them, closing the doors after he had checked so at least some heat would remain inside.

He reached the library and as usual, there were still a few children inside, playing quietly or reading.

"Alright everyone, it's time for bed. Tidy up your things and make your way upstairs." He said softly. The children obliged, hesitantly at first but they were soon to yawn and decide they _were _tired and wanted some rest. He smiled kindly to each of them as they walked out of the library, yawning and chatting quietly.

He glanced out of a small window as he turned to close the thick wooden doors. The sky, despite the clouds earlier that day, was perfectly clear. The crescent moon shone brilliantly in the near black sky, in which many stars twinkled happily.

He turned the old brass key and listened to the subtle _clunk _as the door locked, then made his way to the main staircase.

Wammy house's bedroom system was simple enough; no more than three children per room and boys were to the east of the house and girls to the west. The rooms were all situated along two corridors on two floors. There were also two bathrooms on both floors. The staff had a separate floor to themselves and there were several rooms that remained empty for moderately sick children or badly behaved children. Naturally, the female members of staff had the duty of patrolling the west corridor and the males the east.

Tonight, it was Watari's turn to patrol the upper east corridor. There weren't as many children on this floor as most of them had either become too old to stay at the orphanage or had been adopted. The younger children would usually be placed in the lower bedrooms due to the simple reason of safety and in most cases, when there was space downstairs, the children upstairs would move down a floor.

L however was different. He had asked to move further up the house for his fifth birthday. After a trial night and seeing he was perfectly well behaved whilst in there, Roger (Wammy house's manager and overseer of the bedroom system) had agreed to let him stay.

Watari had soon discovered the reason why too. L loved the sky. He loved to sit and watch the clouds, rain, stars and the Moon. Nobody knew why, he just did. He was constantly taking books full of pictures of the sky out of the library and would look at them whenever he could.

The elderly man walked calmly along the corridor, knocking on the doors of bedrooms that were noisy, giving them a cautionary warning about their volume.

At half past eight he walked down the corridor again, this time entering the rooms to ensure everybody was in bed and settling down, kindly bidding them a good night and switching off the lights.

He reached the end room, the room that belonged to L. He entered and was immediately greeted with a vicious staring contest.

"You two should be in bed by now." He said calmly. L continued to stare whilst the other competitor spoke.

"I would be asleep, but _he _won't turn the light off!" Bradley was an eight year old child that, to L's misfortune, shared L's room. He was blonde haired and had murky blue eyes, and an extremely dominant boy and hated everyone that acted against his liking, this included L. The two were constantly silently fighting, often with staring contests or quick, savage-looking glares at each other whenever they were near one and other. This was mostly because of L's interest in the sky and Bradley's completely opposite interest in cars and football.

Watari stood silently, knowing the contest would be over very soon. Bradley was struggling to keep his eyes from not blinking and the strain on his face was as clear as an ink blotch on white paper. The elder wasn't surprised. L had very peculiar eyes and they could be extremely intimidating, he was especially good at not blinking. He stared calmly into Bradley's watering eyes, his own clear and focused. For a six year old, he had very mature eyes,_ 'I wonder whether he would join the police force one day, his eyes could make anyone confess' _he thought, chuckling quietly to himself.

The blonde finally gave in, blinking then panicking slightly and trying to act as though he hadn't blinked.

"I think L is the victor Bradley." Watari stated calmly.

"I didn't blink! He blinked! It wasn't me!" He whined pointing harshly at the black haired boy who was now lying on his stomach looking at the book he had been reading that afternoon, no doubt what they had been fighting over.

"Don't be a sore loser. It's time for you both to go to sleep now anyway."

"Can't I just have five more minutes? Please!" L begged, looking at Watari, pouting with his eyes as big as they could get. Watari chuckled, _'his eyes could make anyone melt too' _he thought.

"I don't think so. You can read after lessons tomorrow." L reluctantly closed the hardback and placed it carefully onto the wooden desk that stood close to Watari. The adult peered over at the cover of it.

"So you like comets now?"

"Yeah, they're really pretty," L said clambering into his bed and pulling the duvet over his tiny body, "much better than any old car." He added. Bradley narrowed his eyes but chose not to say anything, still sulking after losing the staring contest.

"Maybe you'll see one, there's a comet coming very soon, maybe you'll see it." For the second time that day the young boy's eyes lit up.

"Really?!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, now off to sleep." The boy nodded and snuggled down into his warm bed.

"Goodnight boys." Watari said quietly, switching off the light.

"Watari."

"Yes?"

"What is the comet called?"

"I think it's called Near."

"Near," The boy repeated sleepily, "goodnight Watari."

"Goodnight boys." The door closed quietly and L listened to Watari's fading footsteps. He looked out of the small window just above his bed, up at the clear dark sky, the stars glittering around the crescent moon.

"Hope I'll see you soon, Near."

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

I hope you liked it!

Please review!

...Silenced Shadows


	2. Chapter 2: Painting

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

_Sorry this took so long! And sorry this is quite slow... things should pick up next chapter..._

_Thankyou all of my reviewers!!;_

_**Merichuel:** I can't reply to your reviews when I get them so I will here! I'm glad you like L and here's the update XD_

_**Creeping Shadow**_

_**wonton-chan**_

_**dancers of the night**_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note or any characters/locations that are part of the series/manga. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

_Please enjoy!_

**Chapter 2: Painting  
**

L's tongue was poking out of the side of his mouth as he worked, the concentration showing clearly on his little face. His short legs had stopped swinging wildly about ten minutes ago after he'd finished the inky black background and started to work on his painting's main feature.

He rubbed his cheek, accidentally smearing white paint across it then dipped his brush back into the thick white liquid and continued.

After a while he'd finished.

He dropped the brush into a tall glass jar full of murky grey water that stood next to his collection of paints, then sat back to admire his work. He smiled.

"That's wonderful L, it looks almost real." The young child looked up towards the voice and beamed. Watari returned the smile kindly then walked on down the row of seats, admiring other children's artwork. L took a marker pen and carefully printed his name (well, letter) at the bottom of his painting along with the date that Watari had written for them on the large blackboard at the front of the class. He then raised his hand. Noticing the movement, Watari made his way over to the young boy.

"Have you finished painting?" He asked quietly, so to not disturb the rest of the class. L nodded.

"Well there's still ten minutes before we show each other what we have drawn so do you have anything to do in the mean time?" Again the boy nodded then stopped suddenly, his eyes wide.

"I left my book in my room!" He said in a hoarse, shocked whisper.

Watari smiled kindly, "Don't worry I'm sure you can read it some other time, maybe you could draw something else instead." He walked calmly to the front of the classroom and took a piece of plain white paper from a pile on the teacher's desk. He handed it to L then walked over to a young girl with blonde pigtails who looked almost as though she was going to start crying.

L stared at the paper. He really wished he had his book about comets and space but decided to make the most of this unusually fun lesson.

Having no pencil, only a pen he once again removed it's plastic lid and started to doodle on the piece of clean white paper, most of his drawings being the letter 'L' in many different fonts.

It was unusual for any of the children to have such a relaxed, fun lesson as Roger Ruvie believed that the younger a child started to learn, the smarter, more respectful and knowledgeable it would be as an adult. The class that was currently taking place was supposed to be a mathematics lesson, but seeing as Wammy house's mathematics tutor was unable to arrive at the orphanage due to his car breaking down, Watari had stepped in and offered to take the lesson.

Of course the elderly male had quickly decided that because of such short notice, he had no idea what to teach the children that was related to mathematics he had settled with the idea of an art lesson.

True to his word, Watari stopped his wanderings around the classroom and made his way to the front ten minutes later. He cleared his throat quietly then watched as the children looked up at him with interest.

"Well it seems most of you have finished your artwork so let's show the rest of the class. Now then, who wants to go first?" He asked. About five children's hands shot up into the air and started wiggling. Some of the hands that belonged to the girls were competing with each other to see who could raise highest. Other less enthusiastic children raised their hands much slower with a determined look on their faces that showed they REALLY wanted to go first. The elder nodded towards the same blonde girl he had been to see earlier. Her teary eyes now glittered with boastful happiness.

She held up her picture, "It's a flower, but I had the idea first! Sarah copied me! And besides, mine's better."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"That's enough thankyou girls, they both look lovely." Both girls stuck their tongues out at each other before the girl with the blonde pigtails sat back down, earning stern looks from Watari. He nodded to a boy this time who stood up shyly and held his picture upside down.

"It's a car." He mumbled, one of his stubby fingers in his mouth. Watari smiled kindly then pointed to a group of girls who had painted a picture together.

"We drew a princess' castle!" One explained loudly.

"But I painted the princess!" Another added quickly. When they were sure that absolutely everyone had had a good look at their drawing they sat down again.

Most of the other children stood up showing their pictures, many being houses, flowers or grassy fields with dogs, cats or their friends dancing happily on the grass. Then Watari pointed to Bradley who stood up and showed his 'brilliant' painting.

"It's a footballer, and the footballer is me." He said as some of the boys stared at it in awe and wishing they had thought of something similar. He sat down smugly, knowing he'd earned himself a few more fans wanting to know how he got his ideas.

Then it was L's turn. He stood up almost reluctantly and held his picture up. Before he had chance to anything Bradley burst out laughing.

"Look! It's a lopsided fish!" He sniggered. Half of the boys started laughing with the eight year old. L glared at him, promising something worse very soon if he didn't stop. Bradley saw his glare and his snickers died down slightly.

"Actually it's a comet, shows why you're in the younger class doesn't it Bradley." L said in a cool manner. He earned a few small snickers and an enraged look from the blonde.

"Alright boys, sit down please L and let's get ready for break." L obliged rather pleased with himself and stared up at the classroom's only clock.

The chunky grey hands seemed to like him today as they seemed to fly around the face of the old clock. Watari watched them too and allowed the children to whisper to each other. L listened to some of their conversations without meaning to eavesdrop and tried to block them out with his own thoughts about his upcoming comet, Near. He reminded himself to ask Watari when he could see it. Then he caught the hushed conversation of his roommate and 'friends'.

"...scared of that kid?" One asked grinning slyly.

"No! why would I be scared of him?" Bradley sneered.

"You seemed scared when he looked a you before, when you said his picture was a fish."

"I wasn't scared! I was just thinking about what I'm going to take and hide that's his next."

"Cool! What are you going to hide?"

"I'm going to hide... his book!"

"His book?"

"Yeah! He's got this book which he's always reading, if I hide it he can't read it!"

"Cool! You're the best at hiding things too! Where are you going to hide it this time?"

He went quieter as he told the others his plan, but not quite quiet enough for L to miss what he said. He smiled to himself, _'That actually helps me you know, I was heading outside anyway. I think I'll let them hide it, I'll ask Watari about Near.'_

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

The last child (save L) left the room for the break before their lunch. The black haired boy quickly stowed his now dry painting in his clear folder then walked to the front of the classroom to speak to his favourite member of staff.

"Watari? Can I ask you something about Near?"

"Of course... but I don't know everything and there may be something a little disappointing in what I do know." He said calmly looking the slightest bit saddened as he cleared away a few paintbrushes he had asked the children to leave on his desk for him.

L gave him a slightly confused look before asking, "I was wondering if you knew when I would be able to see it."

"Well, I was researching the comet for you and it should have been seen last night then disappeared again on Saturday morning. You would have been able to see it for four nights in a row but it seems that Near hasn't been seen at all. It is a strange comet, it doesn't behave like all comets as it travels much faster and now it seems like it has a mind of it's own and doesn't want to come. I'm sorry."

The small boy's look of interest slowly turned into a sad and disappointed one. Watari wouldn't have been surprised to see the young one cry, even if it was as hard as catching fog to see him shed a tear. The only time the elder had seen such a sight was when he had been left at the orphanage by his parents two days after it had been opened. L was a tiny baby and crying as all babies do. Since then L had never been seen crying at all, all he did was smile, laugh or frown.

The child nodded and walked out of the empty room slowly, hanging his head with a frown resting on his face as he thought deeply and mentally told the faint prickling feeling behind his cold grey eyes to stop.

Wammy house's founder watched L walk out sympathetically. His gaze shifted to the unusually clear, late autumn sky and let a slight frown creep onto his face, _'I hope you're happy Near.' _He thought, allowing himself to yell inside his head at the comet, wherever it may have been.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

Bradley was arguing with L again.

Kathy could hear the older boy's voice from the second floor. Those two boys were going to get a peice of her mind whether they liked it or not. She was sick of their arguements.

She marched up the stairs, now clearly hearing ever word coming from the blonde's mouth.

"...NOT FAIR!"

She heard nothing but mumbles coming from the youngest boy.

"IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO LISTEN IN!"

"..."

"I HATE YOU! YOU'RE STUPID AND I HATE YOU!"

"..."

She finally arrived outside their door and slammed it open, her blue eyes blazing with fury. Her hands were placed threateningly at her hips and she opened her mouth, emitting dangerous sounding, bark-like words.

"What, is the meaning of this?!" She barked.

"He's being unfair!" Bradley whined pointing at L who sat, leaning against a wall with his book propped up on his crossed legs.

"I still fail to see how _I _am being unfair, you're the one who hid my book."

"You were cheating and listening to where I hid it!" The blonde screached.

"ENOUGH! I don't want to hear another SOUND from this room! Get into bed both of you!" She boomed. L narrowed his eyes at his roommate before closing the thick hardback and clambering into bed. Bradley did similarly, grabbing a toy car as he got under his own squishy duvet.

Kathy wasn't accepting this though. She marched over to Bradley and wrenched the toy out of his hands ignoring the whines of protest, then pulled L's favourite book from his grip forcing him to stop reading mid-sentence. His mouth opened to protest but Kathy got there before him.

"You'll be lucky to get these back at breakfast if you carry on like this!" Her voice then turned into a low threatening hiss. "If I come back in ten minutes and you are not sound asleep, you won't be going outside to play for the next month. Do I make myself clear?" Both boys nodded and she turned, flicked the light switch and slammed the door shut.

"It's all your fault. I hate you." Bradley hissed.

Kathy sounded as though she was attacking the door in annoyance as she shreiked, "I SAID ASLEEP!"

L rolled his eyes then looked out of his window at the clear sky sadly. He sighed then closed his dark eyes trying hard to forget his disappointment.

* * *

A/N: _Please don't shoot me! -Hides in my box-_

_Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome!_

_Oh and could I ask my readers to take a look at my poll? I would like to get results quite soon :) Thankyou to those who ave already voted!_

_See you next chapter... hopefully...  
_


	3. Chapter 3: Disrespect

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

**Thankyou to all of my wonderful reviewers!**

**wonton-chan**

**dancers of the night**

**orichi**

**ZoneRobotnik**

_You all made me so happy with your kind reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note or any characters/locations that are part of the series/manga. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

_A lot of the scenery in this chapter that may seem rather rushed will be described in detail in later chapters. Now then, let's ride off into my imagination! .... if you REALLY want to go there..._

**Chapter 3: Disrespect  
**

"You're not doing your job properly!" A rather overweight man stood, nearly glowing with anger, his bespectacled eyes almost popping out of his skull.

"I am bringing back the required amount and completing my assignment in half the time, how can this be such a problem?" A considerably younger boy said coolly, his dark eyes fixed on the older man.

He grumbled angrily to himself, "I'm not paid enough for this..." he held his beetroot-like head in a thick hand massaging his huge temples.

"I don't think any of us are." The younger, dark eyed male said, not meaning to upset his new boss, but merely start a conversation regarding the subject he was particularly displeased with. Unfortunately, his words made the man yell furiously.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! YOU'RE LUCKY IF I DON'T REPORT YOU FOR SAYING THAT!! YOU'VE ONLY JUST ARRIVED AND YOU'RE CRITICIZING THE LAWS OF OUR KING?!! HOW DARE YOU!!" The younger boy fell out of his seat trying to push himself away from the shower of saliva spraying from the large man's mustached mouth.

A door slammed open behind the fuming man introducing two more males to the scene. The darker haired fanned himself, "Boy, is it hot in here! What's wrong this time Demegawa? I didn't think anyone could get you this worked up-"

"THE NEW KID! THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!!" He yelled, pointing at the youngest in the room, still sitting on the wooden floor nervously.

The two walked casually up to him and the lighter haired male knelt down in front of him, "I hear you're criticizing the law. Do you know what the penalty for disrespecting the king's law is?" He asked in a deadly tone. The younger shook his head slowly whilst Demegawa cackled with amusement in the corner.

The darker haired male mimicked his friend's pose and whispered, "Death."

The young boy's expression turned to surprise and fear. He kicked with his right foot, hitting the two across the face. His foot landed on the floor and he pushed himself up, darting across the floor and jumping over the desk towards the door. He felt Demegawa attempt to grab his white shirt. Thankfully, he was slim and speedy whereas Demegawa was thick and blundering, so the boy was able to escape.

The two males stood clutching their bruising faces, glaring at the disappearing form of the young boy, "Great, he got away." The darker haired said plainly massaging a bruising cheek.

"Demegawa, contact the King... Tell him we've got a spy from the Oort cloud, not a visitor." The light-haired ordered, Demegawa nodded and quickly dialed a number on his communications device. The lighter haired male looked at his dark haired friend, "We're gonna go catch him."

The dark eyed boy ran frantically through the streets. He was heading for the collection docks, needing to return home as swiftly as possible, no matter what the consequences may be.

He reached the docks, busy with people returning from their assignments, giving him a slight advantage. He pulled out a handful of papers from his pocket and darted towards the departure platform. He shoved the papers into a security guard's hands and waited impatiently for him to slowly check through them.

He grunted and handed them back to the boy. He grabbed them and hastily shoved them back into his pocket. Behind him, he heard shouts of protest and yells of surprise.

He turned to see the two males he'd seen in Demegawa's office pushing through the crowds. They spotted him and pointed, yelling, "STOP HIM! HE'S UNDER ARREST!! STOP HIM FROM LEAVING!" The boy ducked out of their sight and rushed towards the end of the platform, fear pulsing through his body.

If they followed him, he may not be able to escape. He wasn't that fast.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

Bradley snored loudly.

L pulled his duvet up over his head, trying to block out the sound. He couldn't sleep and Bradley's snores weren't helping in the slightest.

He had heard the old grandfather clock on the floor below chime several times, telling him midnight had passed some time ago. The six year old rubbed his tired, grey eyes, "Why can't I go to sleep? My eyes are tired..." he whispered to himself for the tenth time.

He rolled over and pulled down his covers, gazing out of the window once again. He was cruelly reminded of his recent misfortune and his gaze moved slowly down to his bed.

His thoughts moved once again to the comet, Near. He had been plagued with ideas as to why Near hadn't come, some as wild as aliens had stolen the comet, others more down to Earth such as the comet had died or burnt out, these ideas he had read about in his book. Not all of the complex explanations had made sense but he worked out that after a certain amount of time, comet's layers were blown away and became nothing but a tiny rock flying through space. His favourite so far was that Near somehow knew he was watching out for it and wanted to wait until everyone was asleep but him, then it would streak across the sky and let L see it's beauty, but nobody else was allowed.

He gazed up at the sky once more, the sadness showing in his dark eyes. He imagined what the comet must look like, beautiful and white, glowing like the moon. According to Watari, this comet was faster than other comets tended to be, making it special. This was also another reason why L wanted to see it so badly.

He sighed heavily, his eyes finally drooping with his body agreeing.

He could finally get to sleep.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

A ferocious streak of brilliant white light flashed past L's window in a vertical motion, followed by a loud boom and an earthquake-like rumble.

The six year old's eyes flicked open and he quickly shoved the duvet off his tiny body and pulled himself up to look out of his window. His eyes reflected the scene he saw before him.

A bright white light and clouds of dust rose up and out of the forest behind the orphanage. Trees had been blown away or blown over by the sudden impact of whatever it was that had woken him up. Then it happened again. Two more lights, almost exactly the same only this time golden, plummeted down onto the surface of the Earth, colliding with yet another colossal boom and rumble.

He watched the lights lose brightness with every second when it struck him, they were comets! He almost cried out in happiness. Quickly, he pulled on a warm coat and slipped into his shoes, not caring about how much trouble he could get himself into, and ran out of the room and down the many stairs resting quietly in the corridors, his excitement overflowing and fluttering in his stomach.

* * *

_I know this is a such a short chapter for such a long wait but I've been so busy! I promise I will make the next chapter longer and will get it out sooner!_

_Please review! Thankyou for reading this chapter!_

_...Near  
_


	4. Chapter 4: Bang

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

**Thankyou to all reviewers! It's great to see you are enjoying this story!**

**Dancers of the night**

**wonton-chan**

**ZoneRobotnik**

**BondSlave**

_Thank you all so much, your words are what keep this fanfiction alive!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note or any characters/locations that are part of the series/manga. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

_Let's go!_

**Chapter 4: Bang  
**

The collision was a heavy one, not one anybody anticipated at all.

The dark haired comet stood, coughing lightly. A cloud of thick dust twisted around his thin frame, distorting the sky and hiding all that stood around him. Somewhere close by he could hear more coughing, much heavier than he had himself.

"Mello? You okay in there?" He called out, his voice broken and dry due to the dust now sticking to the back of his throat. He coughed again and spat out the dust, listening out for the reply of his comrade.

"I'm here, but where's the runt? Have you got him?" Mello replied, after having coughed loudly once again.

The other comet shook his head, forgetting nobody could see him or his actions, "Nope."

"Damnit Matt, you were supposed to be the fastest!" Mello growled. Matt simply looked indifferent. He raised his hand slightly, the limb itself beginning to glow slightly, a glowing blue matter forming in the palm.

"Don't assume the worst, I know where he is."

"But you just said-"

"I know, I said I hadn't seen him. That doesn't mean I can't hear him." He lashed out, the blue matter flying from his hand, illuminating the dark dust cloud. A cry sounded, along with a wooden sounding thump. Matt smirked, turning and running towards it, Mello following suit, though unsure of the previous events.

The blonde skidded to a halt, finally able to see through the settling dust. Able to see the copper-haired comet flying straight towards him. He blinked, his brain only fully acknowledging the happenings a second before impact.

The two crashed to the floor. Mello groaned and shoved the other off him. Matt rolled onto his stomach and coughed rather loudly and painfully.

"Little runt's got some power." Matt remarked, now having finished his coughing and beginning to stand.

Mello was already on his feet and frantic, "Matt hurry up, he's gonna get away!" He cried angrily.

Matt 'humph'ed and stood fully, looking around the dust cloud casually. It had cleared a lot more, so they could now make out all major details in their surroundings, such as tree roots and branches, blown from the ground with their impact.

Once again his orange-goggled eyes rested on the small white-haired comet, supporting himself with a nearby tree, a single clenched hand pressed against his thin chest.

The two friends nodded to each other and raised their hands, blue and red matter glowing in their palms. They saw the albino's grey eyes widen.

**...-*{WITH THE STARS}*-...**

L had finally managed to reach the outdoors. He shivered and hugged his coat to his body, before running towards the impact.

He could see next to nothing and it was thanks to the moon's light he could see what he could. This made navigating through the forest that little bit more difficult. Yet his determination overshadowed his doubt.

As he neared the dusty impact zone, he began to hear heavy thuds and crashes, as though something where running into trees and knocking them over.

He heard shouts and yells, cries of pain and anger, orders and retorts. He slowed to a walk, his breath forming clouds in front of his curious face.

The crashes were getting louder as the trees surrounding the boy became less adjacent to the ground. They lay at odd angles around him, creating a maze-like course through the forest.

L began to take cover behind these fallen trees, still attempting to find the comets, yet not be seen by them too quickly. It sounded as though they were not the type to be messed with.

Bright blue, red and white flashes began to make themselves known to the six-year-old, longer flashes often alongside explosions explained their part to play in the carnage.

He saw shadows dance as said lights flew. His dark eyes were wild with curiosity as he stepped cautiously forward.

He cried out and leapt to one side suddenly as a bright white light shot past him, missing his shoulder by mere millimeters. It exploded on a mound of tree roots, sparks flying from it in all directions.

His breathing was heavy and eyes wider than they had ever been before, that he was sure of.

**...-*{WITH THE STARS}*-...**

Mello let loose a barrage of smaller shots, causing the white comet to almost dance as he avoided them. He smirked, "Dance Near, dance for your superiors!" He jeered.

Matt laughed, joining in. Near growled, not amused and slightly embarrassed. He darted away, quickly taking cover behind a tree root. He whipped his arm out and sent a glowing white orb flying towards the two others.

They noticed this immediately and jumped out of the way, leaving only seconds for it to pass them and crash into a mound of tree roots. Near noticed then a small cry, a small shadow jumping out of the way, a child no doubt.

They were in danger here. He jumped up from his crouched position, landing and taking off almost in a blink of an eye. The two others noticed and were outraged; he was trying to run again!

They let loose another barrage of shots, increasing the anxiety of the smaller comet. He dodged them rather clumsily, the majority of his attention focused on the child, now ducking behind a clump of earthy roots, havig noticed the bombardment.

Near stopped and whirled around, holding both hands together and 'charging' his own orb of white light. It grew much bigger than any previous glowing spheres, and had halted both Mello and Matt as they stared in awe. He released it.

The great ball flew at the two friends and blew them back over several meters, yelling and screaming. Not giving them a second glance, the albino turned and continued to run to the small child who looked extremely suprised to see him coming.

Near fell to a crouching position as he approached the child, a look of urgency painted on his pale face, "You need to go back where you came from, it's dangerous out here." He explained. The child's face was one to be captured and framed for a life-time. A mixture of confusion, bewilderment, amazement, joy, fatigue and a hint of anxiety was showing plainly on his face.

"Come on, stop staring you need to move." Near said, a little more urgently this time.

The boy began to nod, then frowned, "What about you, it's not safe for you either is it?" Near smiled.

"You are thoughtful, but don't worry, I'll get them off my back and get away soon enough."

"Well what will you do when you do that?"

"Go into hiding I suppose, until I regain enough energy to get back home."

The boy fell silent for a moment and Near took this opportunity to glance over his shoulder, checking up on the progress the others were making. He couldn't see them at this moment, so he assumed they were still trying to find their way back, which would probably be very easy.

He turned back to the young boy and was met with shining, happy, full-of-idea, dark eyes, "Why don't you come to the orphanage? Watari and Roger will be ok with another person staying over, there's plenty of room to spare." He said, hope sounding in his little voice.

Near considered this. Bringing an orphanage into this affair could mean much danger and disaster for the building and it's inhabitants, yet it would provide him with comfort and warmth, exactly what he needed to regain his strength quickly. The quicker he did this, the faster he could lead the two troublemakers away from the planet and the faster he could get back to the Oort Cloud.

He looked at the small boy, "Alright, but only if Roger and Watari are ok with it."

The boy jumped to his feet with joy. He held out a hand to help the taller male up, "I'm L by the way."

Near accepted the hand and stood. He looked down at L, "It's a pleasure to meet you L, my name is Near." The boy smiled and began to pull him in the direction of the orphanage.

Near stole one last glance at the clearing behind them. Still was there no-one to see. This was a reassurance.

He smirked and turned back to L who was happily dragging him along.

_'This should be interesting'_


	5. Chapter 5: Spectre

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

**Thankyou to all of my reviewers, thankyou so much**

**Zone Robotnik**

**wonton-chan**

**dancers of the night**

**BondSlave**

**kigndomXhearts**

Hi! I'm soooooo sorry this took so long to update, my other stories over on fictionpress took ages and this sat in the background sulking for getting no attention for a long time. I have decided though, from now until it is finished it is getting the most attention out of everything! I hope you enjoy this chapter, though I know it is boring, it's sort of a filler chapter. The next one should be a little more interesting and I am determined to make it longer! Ok, enough of me, here's chapter 5.

**Chapter 5: Spectre**

Almost spectre like and glowing ever so slightly was the boy that accompanied the small raven haired orphan. He was much taller, yet his physique was somewhat similar to that of the child's; thin framed and weak-looking. He wore clothes that reinforced the ghostly appearance - white and hanging loosely from his body - and seemed ridiculous to be wearing in such weather. But then again, Watari reasoned, it must seem like summer compared to up in space.

The elderly male had watched the comet falling from the sky, watched the young orphan run from the house and into the trees and was now observing the pair walking back towards Wammy house.

The comet appeared to be very wary of something behind him, doubtlessly the two other comets that had fallen seconds after himself. He occasionally glanced over his shoulder, his ivory white hair becoming a blur for a split second. They appeared to have gotten rid of them for the time being but with the anxiety shown by the albino comet, they were sure to be back.

Watari moved slowly from the window and proceeded to calmly descend down the staircase to the bottom floor, removing his small wire glasses from the bridge of his nose and gently cleaning the lenses with a small blue rag as he did so.

He intended not to scold L for his wanderings, but to greet the newcomer. He was fascinated by the unknown universe, mostly due to his constant researches on several aspects of space to tend to L's curious mind. Through this, he had learnt a great deal and indeed respected the young one's interest in the subject. It was complicated in parts, but amazing and almost mystical, open to many hundreds of ideas and theories as to what could be out there. He was entranced by the few pictures taken by astronauts and several spacecrafts, very much like L was.

A childish feeling rippled through him as his mind rolled over questions to possibly ask the comet, one he had only ever felt long ago when he was presented with a crudely wrapped parcel on his birthday. Whatever was inside almost didn't matter, but the idea of receiving a gift kick started the butterflies into action, almost like giving a very strong coffee to a baby.

It was a feeling he rather enjoyed, making him feel not quite so old any more.

**...-*(WITH THE STARS)*-...**

L was buzzing with excitement and happiness. He pulled the taller comet along and through the small gate, leading into Wammy house's garden. Near looked back again, over his shoulder.

"Why do you keep on looking back?" The younger questioned, gazing back into the trees.

"If they know where I've gone they can attack me again, that means putting everyone in danger. But if they find out I'm here during the daytime, when everyone's awake, they won't attack. They need to remain hidden." Near replied, squinting and scanning the dark trees.

"Well, they won't see you if you're inside."

"Yes, you're quite right."

L pulled him along again, grinning broadly.

However his grin faded as he neared the door. A tall figure stood there, a striped red dressing gown clinging to their body. L looked a little anxious, he couldn't see the figure's features, and many if the orphanage's staff had similar nightwear.

"Come on in quickly, boys. You'll catch your death out here." The male announced.

L's face brightened. He smiled up at Near, "It's Watari! He's really nice." Near nodded and allowed himself to be taken inside by the young boy.  
Watari looked -when he was not hidden by shadows, in which he looked very dark and menacing- like a nice man. He had a friendly smile and wrinkled, kind looking face. Small wire-framed glasses were perched upon his nose and a thick white moustache rested above his top lip. He offered Near a coat and something to eat, but these he turned down, however he gratefully took a glass of water.

He was gladly accepted a room to stay in for the night and was assured he could stay for as long as he wanted to.

Due to the late hour, Watari unfortunately had to usher the younger boy upstairs. L, of course, protested and begged to stay up a little later with his new friend. Yet yawning unexpectedly ended the protest, proving his fatigue.

Near decided to step in to assist in getting the persistent little boy up to bed, "Why don't you show me where my room is then? If you're not too tired."

"Ok! Can I Watari? Thankyou! Which room is it?" L asked, bouncing on the spot.

"Calm down L, you don't want Kathy coming down here do you? He can have the room next to yours if you like, and if that is ok with Near." He looked over at the albino.

"That's fine and thankyou once again."

"It's my pleasure my boy. I will have to introduce you to Roger tomorrow morning though."

"Roger?"

"The manager of Wammy house." Near nodded and turned once again to L, who motioned for the comet to follow him out of the room.

Watari watched the two wander up to the stairs, before the door swung shut. He smiled slightly, the albino comet was glowing ever so slightly, lighting up the hallway as the two made their way to their bedrooms.

**...-*(WITH THE STARS)*-...**

"Damn that spy!" Mello growled, picking himself up roughly. Matt remained on the forest floor, examining a pair of orange goggles rather sadly.

"Yeah, he broke the lenses on my goggles." He sighed dramatically, dropping the accessory to the floor, "Ah well, I still have these." He produced another pair from his furred coat and placed them on his head carefully, grinning up at Mello, who stared at him in disbelief.

"Are you even going to try to catch him? Or just sit there and look like an idiot?" He spat, fuming.

Matt leaned back against a tree. Near's blast had sent them far from the circumference of the upturned tree root circle. He casually pulled out a thin white stick and dragged it across the bark. The end began to glow and calmly smoulder. The brunet placed this in between his lips and took a deep breath in, "Mello, there's no point in following him, it's dark." He said, exhaling a pool of multicoloured smoke.

"He glows! He's a bloody comet!" Mello screeched.

"Mmm, but I'm tired, and frankly I don't exactly want to be blown into another tree, I don't have another pair of goggles see?"

"I don't care about your goggles! We'll be in enough trouble for not catching him before he got away from Demegawa's office!" He was nearly tearing his blonde hair out by the roots and veins began popping out from his forehead. The same reaction he got whenever he was angry, stressed and with Matt. Clearly this was torture, what had he ever done to deserve such a partner?! There were plenty of other eligible comets that would have fitted perfectly in Matt's place, but no, the King's choice had been Matt. The lazy teen who had barely been able to stay awake for the interview.

Had the circumstances been different, Mello's opinion of Matt would be slightly different. The two were best friends really, and had been since they were children, but Mello's lust for getting the job done and Matt's laid back, casual attitude made their working environment a hostile one.

Mello sighed, grabbing his pulsing head and propping himself up against a tree. Though he was furious with him and hated to admit it, Matt was speaking sense. It was late and the two were both exhausted, they had been chasing Near for nearly two hours, then their fighting had taken much out of them all.

"Fine. We'll find out where the spy's hiding in the morning, then we'll get him and take him back to the king. Maybe he'll be in a good mood." He said harshly.

The brunet next to him grinned and crossed his arms behind his head, "Like that would ever happen." The blond sneered before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a block of a brown substance. He was running out of it, and wasn't too happy with the fact.

**...-*(WITH THE STARS)*-...**

The room was simple enough, very much similar to the other many rooms of the orphanage according to L. It suited Near's needs well, after all, all he needed was a bed. There was a possibility that he wouldn't be around to see it again. He needed to get back to his council. He needed to help the Kuiper comets.

He lay down onto his bed, his hands acting as a second pillow and one leg dangling over the side of the mattress. He fixed his gaze onto the ceiling, a frown resting on his brow.

He'd probably need help, the task was big and who knew what the king had in store for him should he try to defeat him. Mello and Matt weren't that much of a threat, but they would doubtlessly get some sort of punishment for taking so long to capture him. Near smirked at the thought. Perfect.

But then after they had failed, what else would he unleash to capture him? If it was big, he'd have to move to somewhere much more desolate. If it were to attack, he'd be putting everyone at the orphanage at risk.

But the question remained; who could possibly help?


	6. Chapter 6: Aiber

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

**Thankyou to my reviewers, you're all the most amazing people ever!**

**ZoneRobotnik**

**dancers of the night**

**Relic Angel**

So here is the plot^^ I hope you all enjoy!

**Chapter 6: Aiber**

L awoke to a bright autumn sun, gleaming unexpectedly through the window and onto his face. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, smiling cosily as he reminisced his dream that previous night.

Then he stopped abruptly, his dark eyes catching his muddy shoes next to the door. He jumped out of his bed excitedly, a broad smile on his face, and pulled open the door roughly. It hadn't been a dream; Near was really there!

He ran to the next room, shoving the door open happily, "Good morning... Near..." His voice faltered as he walked tentatively into the room.

It was empty.

The bed was made and curtains open just as it had been that night. He span around, checking the whole room to make sure he hadn't walked past the comet without seeing him.

There really was nobody there.

He gave a small, saddened sigh. A small frown placed itself on his forehead as he waked back into his own room, _But why are my shoes...oh.. they're Bradley's. _His coal black eyes laid themselves upon the muddy black and white trainers belonging to his room-mate, his own brown shoes sat next to them, completely clean.

Maybe it had all been a dream.

Doubting he would get back to sleep again, he pulled on a plain white shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Bradley grunted and rolled over in his bed, his mouth hanging wide open.

L sighed again and wandered out of the room. He liked wearing no shoes; the carpet felt great under his toes and tickled, especially when it was brand new.

He dragged his feet miserably across the carpet, the tickling cheering him up slightly. He watched his feet slide across it, creating a darker and more vibrantly coloured streak as the fibres stood on end after being disturbed by his foot.

Kathy was on the staircase, coming to wake everyone up. On Saturdays, everyone was allowed to sleep in a little longer than usual, but L's body decided he didn't like sleeping, so he was always up before everyone else anyway. He stopped dragging his feet and walked slowly across the landing, still watching his feet. He didn't want to get into trouble for dragging his feet. Not with Kathy anyway; she would take away dessert and that was the best part of every meal!

She walked haughtily past him, snapping a quick, "Downstairs for breakfast L," as she passed him.

He sighed and made his way downstairs. Porridge, exciting. Maybe he would be able to sneak some sugar.

He reached the base of the staircase and peered cautiously across the hallway. Empty. He grinned and scurried across to the dinner room, then carefully slipped inside. He took care not to let the door slam shut, he didn't want anyone to know he had gone into the room; he'd have to forget his mission and sit down, not getting any sugar. Porridge was terrible without it!

The room was empty, just the tables and chairs watched as he stole across to the serving door. He pressed an ear against the wood and listened carefully. He could make out the chef's footsteps, that wasn't very good.

The chef was a huge, round-bellied man with a bright red face that was always shiny with sweat. He liked to shout if something went wrong and L found him quite scary. But there was no way he was going to let him stand in the way of L's sugar!

He pushed the door open and peeked through. He searched with his steely eyes for the pot containing his prized crystals of sweetness.

There. On the work surface, next to the kettle. He grinned to himself, he could reach it and be out of the kitchen in no time! He looked up at the chef again. He was loading a huge mound of oats into a pan of warm milk; ready for the porridge. It was almost like an egg timer, as soon as the oats ran out his time was up; he needed to work fast.

Three, two, one, go! His heart pounded as he darted to the work surface then stopped suddenly: the door! He ran back to catch it and stop it from slamming then back to the sugar. His hands cupped the small silver bowl and lifted it carefully, bringing it down to his chest and holding it close in delight. He ran back out of the kitchen grinning madly, closed the door quietly and leant against the wall. He sighed in relief and smiled, looking down into the bowl at his prize. He had never quite looked forward to porridge so much.

**...-*(WITH THE STARS)*-... **

L had a pleased smile on his face as he climbed back up the staircase. Kathy and the chef had remained completely oblivious to his victory earlier as he sat down in his seat, hiding the small pot beside him on the chair. Then when he'd gotten his bowl of sour old porridge, he had quickly scooped a spoonful of sugar up and dunked it into his bowl. He had done this several times to sweeten up his breakfast, and that it did; it had tasted great!

He wouldn't need to worry about doing it again either, he still had the bowl of sugar with him!

He carried it happily to his room and stashed it deeply inside his wardrobe where he hid it underneath a t-shirt.

He grabbed his shoes then lost his smile,. He looked down at his brown shoes with a sad longing look, "At least it was a good dream..." He mumbled, slumping down to the floor to pull them on.

He sighed a little heavily and pulled himself back up then took his coat and wandered out of the room. He pulled the door shut behind him and stepped out and straight into someone's side.

L stumbled backwards, frowning. He glared at the person but was stopped by sudden realisation. His face lit up, "Near!" He shouted happily. The comet looked down at him and gave a small grin.

"Near! I thought I dreamt about you, I went into your room and you weren't there." L said giddily.

"I was with Mr Ruvie, I had to discuss some things with him."

"Have you had any breakfast?" The young boy was now beside Near.

"Yes, I had some toast I think." The comet said, his forehead creasing as he recalled the food's name.

"You're lucky, I had to have porridge."

"Porridge?"  
"It's a really nasty breakfast, and it's lumpy and grey coloured. I managed to get some sugar though, so it wasn't that bad." He explained.

Near nodded, "That's what Mr Ruvie will have put in my drink right? Small white crystals?"

"That's it!" L replied happily, "So why did Roger have to speak to you?" The two began to walk back down the stairs, having both come out of their rooms to retrieve something of their own.

"I had to explain why I'm here and who I am."

"So Roger will let you stay right?" L asked again, hopeful curiosity playing on his voice.

"I can't stay. If I do I'm putting everyone in danger and you should know. Last night if I had been followed by anything other than Mello and Matt you might have gotten into a lot of danger."

L frowned and looked at the floor, watching his feet again. His bottom lip was in danger of poking out a little further, "But you only just got here."

"It wasn't actually my intention to come here. Earth just got in my way, I need to go back." Near watched the orphan, slight pity showing on his face. L was clearly sulking.

"But why?"

"You want a full explanation?" Near asked, a little hesitantly.

L perked up and looked at the comet, nodding, "Yes!"

**...-*(WITH THE STARS)*-... **

"And I'm the lazy one, huh?" Matt said, staring down at Mello's body. The blonde comet was still fast asleep, after Matt had gotten up at least an hour ago. He nudged Mello with his foot. No movement.

He nudged a little harder. Still nothing.

He kicked him.

"Ah! You bastard! What was that for?!" Mello yelled, clutching his back and sitting up.

"Do you know the time?"

"No, how should I? We're not on the Kuiper belt, the time is different." Mello snapped.

"I," Matt began, folding his arms and regarding his friend closely and with an air of importance, "have been up for an hour, and usually by then, you're the one waking me up, so clearly, you have slept in."

"Whatever." Mello sneered, standing and stretching, "Lets go find that damn spy."

"Sure, so where do you suppose he went?"

"How the hell should I know!!?" Mello stomped away with incoherent mutters spraying out of his mouth as he went.

Matt shook his head and sighed, smirking. He began to follow his fuming partner, "Mello, cool down. You'll be spotted a mile away, sheesh you're like a meteor."

"Shut up!" Matt grinned, enjoying the blonde's annoyance greatly.

**...-*(WITH THE STARS)*-...**

L picked at the wet grass, still sulking. Near sat beside him, a small amused smile crept onto his face, "So this is what you humans do when someone has to leave?"

L looked up at him quizzically, "What do you mean?"

"You haven't stopped glaring at the floor since I said I have to leave, but I haven't even told you why."

"You've only just got here though."

"L, listen. I need to get back to the Kuiper Belt, otherwise everyone is in danger, do you understand?" Near said, his face was firm and meaningful. It reminded L of Roger's face whenever he spoke to a child. But the difference was clear; Near was ok with children, Roger hated them.

He nodded and lightened his sulking face a little.

"I was sent to investigate the king a while ago for the Oort Cloud government and now I have proof and can confirm he has something very big planned; something that is costing or is going to cost lives if I don't stop him."

"How do you know?" L asked, now his sulk had disappeared.

"We comets collect rays from the sun for energy we use for power, like your electricity. Lately, at the Kuiper belt, everyone has been assigned to collect nearly three time as much. Normally it wouldn't matter, but the fact is that this energy being collected is not going to storage or the power stations. The way it was noticed was the rise in complaints about wages."

"So, where is it going then?"

"I have a theory that the King of the Kuiper Belt, Light Yagami, is collecting it personally for his own unknown purposes, and that's what I need to find out. Otherwise my argument can be outsmarted. That's why I need to go back."

L frowned, "So why didn't you just go last night?"

"I needed to regain some strength and I needed to find out if anyone could help, hence my discussions with Roger." Near explained, he was watching the trees behind them, he mostly glanced over his shoulder every minute or so.

"Did you find anybody to help you?" L asked, his eyes brightening a little.

Near shook his head.

**...-*(WITH THE STARS)*-...**

"Pssssst!"

Bradley frowned and looked over his shoulder. He couldn't see anything. Maybe it was just his imagination.

"Pssssst!"

He gave a stoney look to the trees behind him, there still was nothing there! What on earth could have been making that noise?

"Oi! Kid!"

He whipped around and blinked in surprise, two teenage boys were kneeling on the other side of the fence. They were what he had heard.

"Mello, that's not exactly quiet is it?"

"Got his attention though."

"True, true."

"Who are you?" Bradley sneered, he didn't like being ignored especially when he had just been called.

One of the boys, the one with coppery hair grinned at him, "The name's Matt and this is Mello."

Bradley snorted, "What kind of a name is that?"

"Why you-!"

"Mello, calm down. Think of retorts rather than violence." Matt had grabbed Mello's arm and was holding him back calmly.

"Whatever. Kid, never mind about my name, we're looking for someone. A white haired kid, you seen him?"

Bradley nodded, "Yeah! I have!" The 'white haired kid' had turned up out of no-where and had made friends with L. He had watched them talking, completely jealous and angry that L had someone to help him get out of fights now. If Bradley tried to do anything to L, his friend would surely hurt him, maybe even hit him. He looked much older, maybe sixteen. Bradley wasn't scared of him, he just hated him.

"Hello? Kid?" Mello rapped on the fence, the boy had begun to frown and had gone silent.

"Nice one Mello, you've officially lost him."

"Wh-what?" Bradley asked, blinking out of his jealous thought track..

"Welcome back, so where is he?" Matt asked lightly.

"Over there with L." Bradley pointed towards the two who were sitting and talking across the garden.

"Thanks." The two stood and began to walk away.

"Wait! Why did you want to know?" Matt and Mello turned to face the younger boy.

"Why do _you_ want to know, eh?" Mello raised his eyebrows.

"Can I help you?" The two elder boys laughed, then tried to quieten themselves for fear of being heard. "Why are you laughing?! I want to help!" He cried.

"Do you even know what you'd be helping us with?"

Bradley shook his head, "But I still want to help." The two others considered this. Mello looked over at Matt who shrugged and pulled out one of his smoking sticks and struck it against a tree.

Mello looked down at Bradley and smirked, "So what's your name, kid?"

Bradley's eyes lit up, "Bradley."

Mello snorted, "And you think _my _name's stupid?"

"It's not my real name, everyone gets a different one when they come into the orphanage. Sometimes people get letters, some people get weird names and some get normal names." Bradley declared.

"So, _Bradley, _I'm going to need you to keep an eye on the white haired kid, he's called Near okay? Listen to what he's up to and find out where he's going and what he knows."

Bradley nodded and stood, he began to move away when he stopped and faced them, "Wait, I want a cool name like yours too."

Mello blinked, "I thought my name was stupid."

"Well I changed my mind. I want a different name. It'll be like having a secret identity."

"What name do you want then?" Matt asked, his multi-coloured smoke curling mischievously around his goggles. Bradley thought for a moment before deciding.

"Aiber."

**...-*(WITH THE STARS)*-...**

"I'm just going to have to do it all on my own." Near said, however he didn't seem too upset by this. L remained quiet and turned his gaze to the grass. "That's why I'm leaving."

L looked up, his expression a mixture of curiosity and hope, "Hey Near, could I help you?"

Near gazed at him, completely amazed.

"Please." L's eyes grew wide.

Near smiled, "I don't see why not."

* * *

Review?


	7. Chapter 7: Spying

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note or any characters/locations that are part of the series/manga. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

**Thankyou reviewers!!!**

**ZoneRobotnik**

**dancers of the night**

**Relic Angel  
**

**Chapter 7: Spying**

"Roger will be a problem."

"Yes, though he seems to despise children, I doubt he'd let one just career off into space."

L considered this thought deeply, a thick frown imprinted itself clearly on his brow, then he looked up with a sudden brilliant thought, "Watari!" Near brightened and smiled in slight admiration of the younger boy. His enthusiasm showed clearly through his thoughts and ideas. He would be a great partner. Yet the orphan's age played on Near's mind. He was very young and he could think of plenty who would be willing to take advantage of that fact.

But if he was the only eligible helper he could find, that fact would have to lay low and abandoned in his mind. After all, there was the obvious point that L's mind was far more mature than the other children in the orphanage - even some of the older ones. So that cold work to _his_ advantage.

L had jumped up and was excitedly running to the door, "Near! Come on!" He called, earning a few curious faces peering over, then staring and muttering in awe at the newest member of Wammy house's orphanage.

The comet nodded and quickly accompanied his friend to the door.

**-*{WITH THE STARS}*-**

Bradley, or Aiber as he had chosen, was ecstatic. His face was filled with a huge grin as he waved to the two retreating comets.

The plan was to meet them out here just before bed and report anything he had found out. His stomach was filled with performing butterflies and they all seemed intent on dancing the day away. His two new friends, were almost certainly depending on him. He'd have to get the job done very quickly.

"Near! Come on!" Aiber's head flung to the side, his keen blue eyes homing in on the small raven haired orphan. He was standing at the door and looking extremely happy, just as he was. Perhaps for the first time in a long time, Aiber's mind began to work rapidly. He calculated that if L looked as happy as he was, there was almost definitely something going on.

He'd never seen L look so happy.

He grinned with glee, he could set to work immediately! With a casual swagger he made his way towards the orphanage's back door, his newly observant eyes watching the younger boy and his friend through the window; making their way across the room.

He felt somewhat like a secret agent or a professional spy. Wouldn't it be a great job! Agent Aiber. That certainly had a ring to it. Now back to the situation.

Out of sight from the prying eyes outside he made his way quickly across the room and out into the corridor. He saw a second of white at the end of the corridor before it vanished and followed it; it had to be Near.

He followed the two oblivious boys to the library. They entered and Aiber stopped.

He would have followed them immediately, but a professional spy doesn't get caught easily. Instead he checked over his shoulder and then crept forward to the library door.

He peeked through the keyhole and discovered nobody to be close enough to see him enter. He slipped inside with a grin.

Hearing what he knew to be L's voice, he hid swiftly behind the bookshelves and his body against the shelf closest to the voices. It was now he got annoyed. He was two shelves away from them and they were speaking quietly. Thankfully, it was a library, so it was quiet. He was just about able to make out what they were saying.

**-*{WITH THE STARS}*-**

"Watari! Watari!" The elderly man looked from the bookshelf and over to his admittedly favourite little orphan. He smiled at both him and the comet accompanying him.

"What is it L?" He asked kindly.

"Watari, Near needs my help to go and save the Kuiper belt."

Watari's eyes grew wide, "Go into space do you mean?" He asked, rather taken aback by this sudden outburst. The pleasantries were lost almost instantly. This was very serious and would have to be thought about very carefully.

L nodded and Near repeated this action, though much more subtly and slowly. Watari took this small chance to look at the comet's eyes. They were dark and serious, unafraid to fix onto his directly. They were calm and calculative, assessing the elder male as Watari was him. They were very much like L's.

Watari exhaled through his nose and removed his glasses. He took out a small cleaning rag and began to clean them, his eyes however were still trained on the pair, "Explain the situation to me, Near." He replaced his glasses and took a seat on a high-backed red armchair standing behind him. He motioned for the two boys to do the same. They did so, both sitting in a second chair in the area. L sat with his legs crossed with his hands placed expectantly on his knees, the position somewhat similar to a meditational one.

However Near seemed to prefer to sit with one leg brought up to his chest, with the other hanging normally over the chair as anyone else's would. He placed a single hand over the top of this knee and began to speak.

"I came here to Earth as a mistake. I was running away from two other comets who are here too, but I don't know where they are."

"Are they a threat?" Watari asked, his brow raised.

"No, they're not a threat." Near replied with a cool voice and a smirk. "With any hope, they'll have gotten lost."

"Won't they be finding somewhere to stay? It _is _cold." L mentioned.

"We're used to much colder climates, the Earth is like standing on a Sun compared to the Kuiper Belt. They'll be fine where they are, unfortunately." He added a little coldly.

"So, why were you running away from them?" Watari inquired.

"I was spying on them." Near said plainly. Both others raised their eyebrows, making Near smile, "On orders from the government." Their faces relaxed a little.

"I was sent from the Oort Cloud - which is my own home - to spy on the Kuiper belt's king; Light Yagami. He was the heir to the throne after the previous king, Soichiro Yagami. Rumours were floating around the government that Light was planning something big so many private detectives were assigned to find out whether or not this rumour is true. Several days later all of the private detectives were announced dead, missing or imprisoned, so more people were called in to continue this job.

"After the same thing happened with this group, one last group of detectives was called in; I was one of them. The chief inspector looked at everyone's records and decided that just one detective would go this time, in hope that the singularity of that one person would deflate the chances of them getting caught and increase the chances of getting some answers back. That is how I was chosen. Being the youngest, I could confuse suspicions a little, so I was a better option than others." Watari nodded thoughtfully, resting his chin on his clasped hands.

"So I am assuming you found out information, which is why these two comets are looking for you." Near nodded. "Does the Oort Cloud government know of this information?"

"Yes, I was able to send several messages and received some too, so I know my findings reached them. Plus I got new orders; To confront suspects about the matters raised and to take action to stop Light's scheme, whatever it is. Trying to fulfil the first order is how they found me. I joined a band of workers and was hoping to confront my 'boss'. Unfortunately, as I knew, he had direct links with the King's council." Near answered.

Watari mulled over the comet's words deeply, plunging the library into a deep silence for several minutes.

He finally looked up at Near, sternly yet ready to accept anything new, "To me, your story is quite wild and a little uninformative. You have described your missions or orders and what has gone on between you and the detectives very well, but... what is it that Light Yagami is planning? To what extent does this require L's help? Or anybody's help for that matter."

Near looked a little hesitant, the coolness in his eyes flickered with a little unease, "I can't get back to the Oort Cloud now that Light's council knows who I am. No doubt they have already torn apart half of the Oort cities trying to find out who sent me and I know Mello and Matt – the two other comets – are going to be punished for taking so long to capture me. I need at least one person's help because I need to have someone I can trust. If I befriend someone that Light has never seen before, I would have the advantage of someone who I can trust to keep what I plan safe."

"So what is it you plan, what is it Light plans?"

"I think he plans to bring out an almighty power that will render him unstoppable and King of the Milky Way. But the only thing he needs to conquer after the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper belt is Earth. All other planets are owned by the Oort Cloud anyway."

"Are there aliens on the other planets?" L asked, rather suddenly.

Near nodded, "Yes, they're quite friendly."

"Do you know any of them?"

Whatever the answer was, was a loss to Watari as he was, again, deep in thought. Could he really just let L wander off into space? Could he trust Near to keep him safe? Could he even trust Near in the first place?

The comet seemed trustworthy enough, but he was holding back about something. Watari had seen the hesitation before Near had explained the plans, something was troubling him and it could be dangerous. Was it right to send L out towards something he was unsure about? Yet, there was a small voice poking at the back of his mind, telling him to go ahead and let the boy have a shot at something amazing.

Near was, in reality, L's first real friend, aside from Watari of course and if Watari was in L's shoes, he'd do anything to let the elder man let him go.

He smiled to himself. It would be one heck of an adventure, but an experience nobody would like to miss.

"L, you can go with Near."

L blinked then gasped in joyous surprise, "Really?!" His eyes gleamed as brightly as the stars. Watari nodded and smiled kindly at him.

L jumped from his chair and hugged him tightly, "Thankyou!"

**-*{WITH THE STARS}*-**

Aiber almost cried out in outrage, go out into space?! There was no possible way that this was fair. Why did L get to go into space and not him?!

He wrenched his arms together tightly across his chest and sulked. A heavy frown nestled cosily on his brow.

He huddled up angrily against the bookshelves, a burning jealousy consuming him from deep down in his mind. He'd felt this before and took it as hatred. Aiber knew very much of jealousy, but he pretended it was only anger.

His 'friends' had constantly reminded him of the word and he had regarded them with little more than a shrug and a foul grin. He had insisted that he was not jealous, he was angry that he hadn't been thought about, angry that he hadn't gotten a gift, angry that he had been late and so hadn't got the limited item he wanted. But in truth, Aiber was infested with the emotion almost every time he thought of the black haired orphan.

He exhaled slowly and deeply, his mouth a prominent frown. He would show L his anger. He would show Near too. He would show them both with his own two new friends. Two friends, that was much better than L. He only had one.

Aiber smirked; he'd go into space with his own friends. Now that he knew they too were comets, the idea was growing ever more exciting.

If they didn't approve, he'd make them.

**-*{WITH THE STARS}*-**

"What took you so long? I'm not supposed to be out here!" Aiber moaned with a typical schoolteacher-like annoyance.

Mello looked sceptically at the smaller blonde, "I think you forget that I have the power to destroy you before you have time to wet yourself, boy."

"I think you forget that I have information that you don't want to destroy." Aiber retorted, narrowing his eyes.

"Touché." Matt said, grinning wildly. Mello shook his head, annoyance burning within him.

"Fine, tell us what you found out then."

"No, first I want to make a deal with you." A flare of mischievous enthusiasm sparkled upon his face, creating an intensity within his blue irises. Mello noted this and almost hesitated to ask, what this deal was. Knowing the blonde orphan, his proposition was under no doubt to be anything other than embarrassing, annoying or involving some sort of gift exchange.

Little did he know it would be all three.

"If I tell you what they said, you are to take me into space with you."

"What?!" The two spluttered.

"How the hell do you even know we are from space, I bet it was Near wasn't it." Mello shot an angry glare at a tree, he was imagining to be the white haired comet.

"Yes, so you will take me to space then?" Aiber's eyebrows were raised expectantly.

Matt looked over at Mello who remained silently happy with glaring at the imaginary Near. He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yeah, sure. Whatever, kid. So what did you find out then?"

"What, you mean you're just going to let me come with you into space?" Matt nodded indifferently. Aiber punched the air, "Alright!" He whooped, grinning wildly.

Mello, having heard Matt's decision, stopped glaring at the tree and listened to Aiber's recount of what he had learnt in the library.

He smirked, the kid had done well after all. They would have no trouble catching up with the spy now.

"So, when are _we_ going?" Aiber asked as enthusiastic as always.

"You're not going anywhere, kid. We've got what we came for." Matt said, standing and stretching.

"But you said I could come with you! L's going with Near!" Aiber protested loudly.

"Look up the word con, Aiber. Then maybe you'll understand. L will be a weight for Near, we can use that to our advantage, but you would be our disadvantage." Mello joined Matt in standing and the pair of them walked casually back into the trees.

Matt lolled his head over his shoulder to look back at Aiber, "Don't cry."

**-*{WITH THE STARS}*-**

"You aren't going to need anything else?" Watari asked, very surprised to see both L and Near standing at the door to the gardens, wearing a simple shirt and trousers each. The single exception was L who wore also his thick winter coat and a pair of gloves.

Near shook his head. Watari sighed and gave a crooked smile, "Aren't I thankful Roger believed me. He thinks you're going on a residential trip to an observatory, I told him you had won the trip so it is all expenses paid." L gave a small laugh.

"L, go and fetch a scarf, it's going to be very cold up there. I don't want you ruining the mission with a cold." He smiled at the boy who nodded and darted quietly back into the orphanage and up the stairs.

"Near, you'll look after him won't you." Watari said softly, gazing up into the sky. It was speckled with twinkling stars and several clouds floating peacefully upon the wind.

"Of course." Near replied, his own eyes frowning slightly at the elderly man.

"I am trusting you with his life. I know he will follow you until the bitter end, I just need you to promise me you will keep him safe."

"I will, I promise." He assured, giving a small smile.

Watari smiled up at the skies, "Sometimes, I wonder how long it is I have left. Then I think.. that really I am pushed on by L, I want to see him grow up.. become something wonderful. I couldn't bare to see him get hurt.." He said, almost lost in thought.

"He's almost like a son to you." Near finished.

"Yes he is."

"Are we going?" L asked, racing through the kitchen with his scarf wrapped around his tiny neck. Near nodded and walked out of the door, out into the garden.

L looked up at Watari and hugged him, "Thankyou, Watari."

"You're welcome, L. Now go on, I'll see you soon." The little orphan bounded off towards Near who knelt down to let the younger boy clamber onto his back.

The comet stood and turned to Watari. He gave a small wave.

Then he bent low and jumped. He shot up into the sky and was gone. A bright yet small flash in the sky proved their passage through the atmosphere was complete and they were out of Watari's reach for good.

Watari brought his eyes back down to his horizon and he turned to walk back inside when another flash caught his eye. He span back and fixed his eyes upon another two streaks of light.

The other comets.

He murmured his words, watching the atmospheric flashes once again.

"Be safe."


	8. Chapter 8: Yagami

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

_Ack, I'm so slow at updating T-T But here is the next chapter of With the Stars!_

_**Thankyou to my reviewers! You are my reason to carry on xxx**  
_

**_dancers of the night_**

**_ZoneRobotnik  
_**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note or any characters/locations that are part of the series/manga. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

_Please enjoy!_

**Chapter 8: Yagami  
**

"Remind me to severely punish them as soon as they lay a foot in the castle." His voice was mocking and calm.

"You should have sent me, my liege. I would have done the job so much better than them!"

"Quiet, Mikami! Stop getting worked up about it, if King Yagami wanted to send those to idiots out he should be commended for it, not tormented with your own idiotic yabberings." The woman's gaze was sharp as her icy voice.

Mikami glared at her, "Takada, if you were not part of this council I would personally request that you were hung!"

She raised an eyebrow idly as she pushed a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear, she was used to the male's repetitive death threats and was quite bored of them. She rolled her dark eyes and turned back to the King.

He wasn't all powerful from the first glance, he appeared to be just a regular male in his late teens. He was handsome, with a delicately carved face and hair that was almost perfectly groomed to frame his unblemished face. He was one to walk with a stature of great importance, one of his greatest flaws in keeping his identity as the king hidden should he wish it, with regality radiating from his every step.

He seated himself into the chair placed at the head of the table, resting an elbow on the arm and his head onto a gently clenched fist. His right leg rested atop of his left and he watched the other members of his council lazily with his cold brown eyes, those that glistened with a hint of lunacy, credit to the immense power he had inherited from his father a year ago.

A pretty young woman immediately grabbed his free hand and smiled at him adoringly to which he gave his own light smile.

Takada's clenched hand tightened and her knuckles grew white. She glared at the pretty blonde with great envy.

Misa Amane was a princess from the western area of the Kuiper Belt and was engaged to the young king. Their marriage was set to be on an asteroid which would shoot past late in the next year and from there their honeymoon would ensue. All of the guests would vacate the asteroid and for a month they would travel upon the asteroid together to wherever it took them. They would certainly make a beautiful couple. According to most comets. Light was matched in charm by her, the beauty she held was envied by almost every comet on the Kuiper Belt and Takada was one of them.

She could not understand how Light could love a girl like Misa. Though very beautiful, she lacked in brains and from words spoken directly to her, Kiyomi Takada knew for a genuine fact that Light was fond of intelligence.

Fantasies brought Kiyomi the idea that Misa was a witch and had cast a spell over the King in order to become even more powerful. But she knew that these ideas were only fantasies created by fierce jealousy.

Light began to talk, immediately ending the soft chatter of his council members.

"It has come to my attention that each of you is desperate to know of my plans." He surveyed the member's reactions. Besides himself there were five members of his council. Each were devoted to him and he entrusted them with all of his decisions. With his words each had a similar expectant look upon their face, their attention heightened almost instantly. He smirked.

"It seems I am correct. I have been thinking deeply about whether or not to tell you and I have reached a decision." Silence ensued, nothing but an unheard chuckle from an unseen being could be heard.

"Each of you is loyal enough to know my secrets and so this meeting is the most secretive of all."

The unheard being stopped chuckling, instead turning to watch the faces of the council members. "I made a plan. A plan ready for my reign that would make me more than a mere King, but a God. God of a galaxy, powerful enough to smite any who chose to defy or challenge me. At first my plan was to rage war across the nine planets and take over with power, but then I found that I can take over by force. Mikami?" Light's eyebrow curved up and he fixed a gaze upon the man sitting two seats away with his hand in the air.

"My liege, if this is true.. would it be right to call you God?" He questioned hesitantly.

Light smirked, "You may call me God if you wish, Teru." Mikami squeaked in delight and fell silent, allowing the king to continue.

"So-- Yes, Higuchi?" An man with a sunken-looking face and deep brown hair slicked back over his head brought his raised hand down. An unheard laugh escaped from the unheard being, finding it hilariously funny that a man older than Light had to raise his hand to speak, just like a child would in school.

"Your majesty, I have been prepared for war for such a long time, the armies are in perfect condition to fight and win, sir. Why not use them?" He asked in slight disbelief.

"Why waste the life of the good when they can be spared? As I was about to explain; I came across a new source of power some time ago and with it I realized I had no need for war or pain, I only needed to use fear. Fear would bring down the universe and nobody would get hurt unless it was completely necessary, so those good and decent men ready to fight in your armies can live, Higuchi, they can go home to their families knowing they will see them the next day." Tears holding themselves back decided to drip down from Takada's steely eyes.

"My king, that was beautiful. You are so thoughtful and kind-hearted. Your heart is cold and full of desire, yet you still think of those way below you, not worthy of even a passing glance from one such as yourself!." She wiped at her tears with a black sleeve.

"Mmm, isn't he the most wonderful man a girl could have?!" Misa exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Light's neck adoringly and giggling softly.

"Worthy to be a God!" Teru added.

"But how do you plan on doing this? You can't just leave us guessing."

"Demegawa. I wouldn't dream of leaving you out of my plans, you all have a part to play in this." Silence fell once more to a point of which everyone's heartbeat in their head was the only noise they could hear, "I have assigned to each of you a single and delicate piece of the puzzle which will lead up to my plan, but I must warn you that if any word of this passes your lips to anyone but myself you will be killed for your insolence and treachery." Light warned, his tone was deadly serious and his eyes reflected this with a fiery gaze.

"I will never breathe a word to anybody my Lord. I have been loyal to you since the beginning and I will remain so, I can assure you." Higuchi said, meeting the king's gaze with confident eyes of his own.

"My God, you can kill me with your own hands if I so much as consider betraying you!" Mikami declared, standing and knocking his chair over with his vicious action.

"I swear an oath on my life to remain loyal to you, my king." Demegawa stated unusually softly, his heart fully laced into his words.

"Nothing in this whole universe would make me betray you my Lord, that is a promise and an oath to which I am bound forever." Takada swore, her eyes still glassy and wet, but determined and truthful.

"I believe you all and I trust in your words, that is why I am going to tell you what I wish for you to do."

**...*{WITH THE STARS}*...**

The door swung shut as Higuchi left the room; the last of those at the meeting, besides Light and the unknown being.

The king leant back in his chair, smirking and twirling a pen in his fingers. His eyes gazed across to the opposite wall but it was a question as to whether he saw the wall. He was in his own head, watching the perfect galaxy he would soon create for the comets. Any and all that opposed him would be crushed and only the worthy would live in his galaxy.

Again the unheard being laughed hysterically, snapping Light from his daydreams, "Ryuk, what are you finding so funny? It's a little distracting."

'Ryuk' jumped up onto the table and sat with his long black, leather-clad legs crossed in front of the king, his clawed black hands holding his bony knees as he peered down at the male; his golden eyes smiling brightly with laughter, "Everything! You really don't give a damn do you? You're going through with it?"

Light gave a small and blunt chuckle, leaning his cheek on a clenched fist resting on the arm of his chair, "Obviously. If this is the only way to gain true control of this galaxy then so be it." He said calmly.

"So you don't even care that by doing this you can go to neither heaven nor hell?" Ryuk asked, a little shocked, though he knew the answer.

The shock was not entirely due to the fact that Light was so recklessly certain with his plan. The plan was a huge task and the teen had been working on it in secret with Ryuk for much longer than anyone would have thought; well before he was appointed the new king of the Kuiper belt after the unexpected death of his father, so there was no doubt that he was prepared and ready for anything. He had worked out any chinks in the idea and was confident.

But what shocked Ryuk the most was how carefree and calm the teen sounded when talking about it. He had heard the fact that just for involving himself with Ryuk would prevent him from going to heaven or hell at least one hundred times. He'd been telling Light since the day Ryuk was called upon. But instead of acting like a regular comet and completely abandoning the idea after finding out how serious the commitment would be – he simply smiled every time and said the same sentence, smirking all the while,

"Oh, Ryuk. When I am finished, even heaven itself will be put to shame by my galaxy."


	9. Chapter 9: Run

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

_**Thankyou to my reviewers! I adore you all and I'm so sorry to keep you all waiting!**  
_

**_ZoneRobotnik_**

**_dancers of the night_**

**_Relic Angel  
_**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note or any characters/locations that are part of the series/manga. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

_Please enjoy!_

**Chapter 9: Run  
**

Near landed softly, his dark eyes stony and fixed, narrowed at the sky. He knew the two golden comets had been following; they hadn't been too subtle with their following techniques – bickering as usual. However to prevent any brawls, he had ignored them and focused on getting to the Kuiper belt as soon as he could. He had settled with talking to L, responding to his questions quite happily and glad of the company.

He jumped back into a covered alley, spotting two dark blots on the horizon. He glanced over his shoulder at the young orphan; still fast asleep after falling into a peaceful snooze approximately an hour previously.

It had been a long journey after all and although the comet was quite used to the journey, he too was quite tired finding a human was a lot heavier and difficult to carry than Sun rays. He glanced back at the approaching Mello and Matt, noting their speed was decreasing and their path was becoming disrupt due to their confusion.

He smirked. His pleasant rest and food from the orphanage had proved to make him the more alert comet; helping with his speed too despite carrying L on his back. He darted from their hiding place, further into the alley. There was no doubt that his current place of residence would be swarmed with police or the king's council members, so he swerved from his usual route and instead headed towards the house of a friend he had made that lived not too far from their position at that moment. He knew her to be very trustworthy and relied on her quite a lot. As soon as he had finished and the case was complete, he would make sure that she got a huge reward for all of her help.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

"Can you see him?"

"Nope." Matt's stomach growled even louder.

"God, your stomach gets louder every time." Mello looked at the brunet's stomach sceptically.

"It wouldn't grumble if I had some food." Matt whined.

Mello rolled his eyes, "You know very well we can't eat until we find the spy, fool." His own stomach groaned in protest and he glared at it, blushing with fury.

Matt laughed, "You DO want food, then." He stated, grinning.

Mello 'humphed' and folded his arms grouchily. The two had halted in the air and were surveying the direct area in front of them. It was just above the landing platform, not far from where they had originally taken off from. The area was deserted save from the navy-clad guard pacing up and down on the platform, his gloved hands placed neatly at the base of his back.

Mello watched him, frowning. There was a possibility that the white comet had been seen and perhaps even talked to the male. If they found that much out then at the very least they could confirm he was definitely on the Kuiper Belt and could prevent him from leaving again. But there was the fact that Near was a professional spy to consider. So their inquiries could just lead to a second standstill. The question remained of whether he would have allowed himself to be seen by security and above all, _why _had he returned in the first place? The child (Aiber was it?) had been of little use, bringing them information that they could have gathered on their own and wasting their time. Seeing that as an example of a child made Mello wonder why Near would want to keep one about him.

Of course, the king would have spies and contacts he could count on that would feed back anything suspicious, and like any good comet under the king's police department, Mello had a couple too. The child would make him easier to spot for these contacts.

Matt's stomach growled ferociously, snapping Mello's mind back to the current situation and onto his friend. Matt stared comically at his stripe-covered belly and chuckled, "That was a loud one." He grinned up at Mello who's own stomach rumbled in response, not quite as loud as the other's but earning a laugh from him anyway.

"Come on, there's a guard. We can ask if he's seen anything." Mello grumbled.

Matt's face took a sudden serious expression, "You really think we'd need to?" He inquired.

Mello nodded, "If there was just one tiny slip up, a glance, we can at least confirm that the spy is back on the Kuiper Belt. If we have that knowledge we can catch him out sooner or later."

"And he's got that kid from Earth, he'll be more hesitant and slow." Matt agreed.

A sharp nod from Mello and the two quickly headed down to the guard who ceased his pacing and looked up at them suspiciously, doing his best to look down his nose at the teens.

"What are you doin' 'ere at this hour?" He sneered, barely giving them time to touch the platform.

Mello raised an eyebrow, "I'd show some more respect for the High Council Detectives." He said snidely. The guard suddenly became jumpy and fiddled with his fingers, bringing his nose down almost instantly.

"S-s-s-sorry, s-s-sirs, I-I-I was just... because well you see.." Mello raised an impatient hand to halt his stuttering attempt.

"We'd like to know if you have seen anyone besides us tonight. Maybe in the sky or even coming through here."

The guard nodded quite suddenly. "Yes, I have. I saw the captain of the guard coming down from his check of the zones, and I saw all of the night shift coming in-"

"We're looking for someone in particular. He's a bright white comet, carrying a small black haired boy. Have you seen anyone of this description?" Matt interrupted.

Again the guard nodded, "Just now, sirs. He came through and had all the right papers. I let him through." He looked at them, concerned, "I was.. right to do that... wasn't I..?" He hesitated.

Mello's face was a picture of glee, "You should have stopped him." The man's face fell, "Not to worry, you won't be punished; you bear witness to his arrival here on the Kuiper Belt." His voice suddenly became stern, that of authority, "Your orders are these: Issue the command to every member of the station's guards and all others on further ports; that comet and the boy accompanying him is not to leave the Kuiper Belt under any circumstances unless accompanied by the King himself. Do I make myself clear?" He sent a firm glare in the man's direction under which he cowered and nodded shakily.

Mello raised an eyebrow and the man fumbled out a sentence, "Y-y-yes, s-sirs."

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

L rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned. He pushed a thin blanket from his chest and sat up, then stopped and looked back down at the blanket. "Where... am I....?" He questioned, answered by the plain and silent air.

The room he was in he did not recognise. It was light and airy despite the lack of light shining through the thin curtains. The walls were painted a thin and pale cream to create a warm feeling to the room. The bed was a large one, made for two with a thick white duvet curled up at the base next to the foot rest which was a simple black wire frame. The blanket covering him was a deep chocolatey brown and felt almost like the blankets the staff back at Wammy's house would distribute to the children when the nights became warm in the summer. On the walls hung various photographs displaying a woman and man he did not recognise, both elderly and smiling although the smile looked admittedly forced.

He slipped his feet over the edge of the bed and dropped down onto the rug-covered floor. The rug was a similar colour to his blanket and fringed with white.

He glanced around the room once more before slowly crossing the room to the door and opening it slowly. He took a glance out of the door and saw a small area of flooring leading up to a cream carpeted staircase with deep brown plank-like banisters.

Closing the door behind him, L stepped out of the bedroom and slowly descended the stairs, feeling the soft woollen carpet beneath his toes. Wait, toes?

His head flicked down to look at his small toes cushioned by the fluffy carpet. He hadn't seen them in the bedroom so assumed they were downstairs, if Near was still in the house, which he highly hoped was true, he would be able to tell him where they were.

The stairs themselves were quite high, so the young boy kept one hand firmly on the banister as he carefully climbed down each step. It seemed that the height of the stairs however, were a small price to pay for them being short, so it was not long before L had reached the bottom of them and stood in a long kitchen lounge, open plain and airy.

A fresh breeze floated through the room, playing with the looser items in the room, though there was a lack of such possessions. The few things that were able to be tormented by the air were the curtains and a thick bushy plant full of chocolate brown leaves, matching the theme of the entire house. L observed the plant questionably, not quite sure how to register the plant. Ordinarily, a brown plant meant that it was dying or that the leaves were about to fall off, yet this plant looked perfectly healthy and each leaf had a shine to it.

Frowning, he turned to try and find Near and dismissed the plant as just something he would need to get used to. He was, after all, not on earth any more.

L's ears pricked as the sound of a cup hitting a table rang through the air, sounding like it came from outside a window or door. He scanned the room and found a partially open glass door behind floor length curtains, only revealed as a short breeze lifted the base of the material up.

L walked across the room to this door and peeked through, relieved when he saw Near sitting at a small table on the small balcony the door lead out on to. The comet looked remotely bored and held his head up with a clenched hand as his dark eyes surveyed the area around the balcony blankly. The 'cup' L had heard earlier was a small mug which the orphan assumed to be a comet's version of coffee or tea. He couldn't see the liquid inside so he just had to guess.

Near switched his gaze and suddenly noticed the boy standing there. He gave a lopsided smile, "You're awake then?" L narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, I'm standing here, why wouldn't I be awake?" He asked.

"You could be sleep walking." Near chuckled at the confused humour spreading across L's face, "Are you hungry? Or thirsty?" The boy nodded, "I've got some.. I guess it's like toast, but tastes a bit sweeter." He offered.

"It's sweet?!" L asked, his eyes lighting up. He liked the sound of this comet food already.

"Yes, it's eaten cold, so Halle made you some before she went out." Near pushed a plate towards the boy as he made his way to the table and climbed up onto the second chair.

The comet toast was lemon yellow in colour and had dark brown toasted marks. It looked almost like toasted cake and anything that looked like that was good in L's books. He took a bite out of it and smiled as a familiar sugary taste greeted his tongue. It tasted like bread and honey.

He chewed the bite and swallowed, his mind falling back to Near's last sentence, "Who's Halle?"

"She's the woman who lives here; Halle Bullook. I couldn't take you back to my house because the police would probably be looking for me." He had a slightly annoyed look on his face, "But Halle is a good friend of mine, so this was the first place I thought of." He explained lightly and L finished his toast whilst he listened.

"Where did she go?"

"She went to the shops, she should be back soon."

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

"So he still has the kid?"

"Yes."

"And where is he?"

"I'm not going to tell you, you know that's part of the deal."

"Worth a shot."

"Ugh, Mello you're not attractive when you do that."

"So I'm attractive if I don't do that?"

"I didn't say that, and I never will. Stop getting your hopes up."

"It'd be weird anyway, we look like siblings."

"Unfortunately."

"So they're with you?"

"What?! No, they're-"

"It's only just past dawn, if they're not with you then where else would they be? On the streets? I highly doubt that."

"Why do you-"

"He's a criminal, Lidner. He is working against the king. He needs to be punished."

"I'm working against the King too. You've not arrested _me_ yet."

"You're a faithful ally."

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***

Near stood and took away his mug and the few plates left on the table from their food. He left L to explore the view from the balcony and took the items to Halle's kitchen.

He placed them into the sink and stopped. He listened carefully, a frown forming on his brow. Rapid footsteps and shouted orders. He moved to the front door swiftly and silently, placed an ear on the wooden frame and listened. They were definitely moving towards the house, but to run out even if they weren't heading for this house was risky and suspicious. He held his position.

The footsteps grew louder and louder, then, "OPEN UP!! THIS IS THE POLICE, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!!" The male outside pounded on the door, making Near's eyes widen in shock and slight panic.

L appeared at the balcony door, looking a little lost. Near darted across to him and grabbed the boy's wrist.

"We've got to leave, now." He spoke in a hushed voice and pulled the orphan out onto the balcony again. He pulled the door shut behind him and jumped p onto the balcony railings themselves.

L's eyes widened, "Oh no! Don't jump! Please don't jump!" He cried, looking down fearfully. The balcony was very high up.

A crash and a slam sounded from inside, followed by more heavy footsteps and orders. Near peered back over his shoulder at the door then back over the balcony, "Sorry, L. Hold on tight."

L grabbed the comet's arm quickly.

Near jumped.

The men burst out onto the balcony, yelling as they were met with a blur of falling white. "Don't let him escape!! Out onto the streets! Find him!" The apparent chief yelled, throwing a hand towards the door again. The group ran out again, rushing through the streets to the other side.

The chief snarled, his lip curling to show his teeth, "I'll get you, spy. You can't outrun the police."

***-{WITH THE STARS}-***


	10. Chapter 10: Plan

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

_**Thankyou to my reviewers! I am really sorry that this took so long to be written and posted, but you'll be glad (I hope) to know that I have my plot sorted and I know how it is all going to end! :D  
**_

**Relic-Angel**

**Dancers of the night**

**ZoneRobotnik****  
**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note or any characters/locations that are part of the series/manga. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

_Please enjoy!_

**Chapter 10: Plan**

Light's auburn eyes flared with a fire threatening to burst forth and smite the two comets before him who felt tiny compared to their outraged monarch.

Not long after the two had stepped into Matt's flat to play some - according to themselves - well earned video games and sweet treats; Kiyomi had fiercely knocked on their door and practically arrested them on their doorstep. Mello had tried to make light of the situation by grinning with a few remarks about her acting 'kinky' all of a sudden, but that had ended with foul glares and a slap which still twinged as they were shown into their king's throne room.

Expecting the worst, due to the harsh manner that they were brought into the room, both Mello and Matt made sure to act as humbly as they could. They made sure to respect the king by bowing to him and ensuring to address him as 'sir' or 'your highness', but this sort of treatment did not wash lightly with Light. His anger crippled their attempts.

The two were ashamed to find out from the very man that they were trying to impress that they had failed in their mission and Near had gotten away.

"And why? Because my two supposed superior comets were too bothered about getting home to their luxuries than ensuring their job had been completed. How must I look now?" Light's voice had managed to stay calm despite his glowering eyes. It had cracked.

"My police are tearing up the town looking for that brat, after I have worked hard to create peace enough to go forward with my plan in secret!" The king was becoming hysterical and both Mello and Matt became fidgety, the latter tugging awkwardly on a sleeve like a child being scolded. Mello held back such obvious motions but his eye twitched and his fingers clenched occasionally, showing his unease.

Misa bit her lip and stepped up to her fiancée, placing a tentative hand upon his shoulder to attempt to soothe him, "Light, maybe you should try to calm-" The monarch slapped Misa's hand from his shoulder and scowled at her.

She jumped back looking hurt and the furious king stormed from the room, slamming doors behind him.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-* **

Near landed in an alley; the darkest he could find. He didn't need the rest but he did need time for planning _something. _All he had been doing was running. He had run from Mello and Matt, run from King Light's spies often enough and now he was running from the entire police force, although his time he felt it was worse.

The police were tearing down houses upon order just to find him and this laid heavily on his conscience. He didn't belong in this town and he was causing more trouble than he was worth, so he needed a plan and fast. An effective plan would be the best kind.

His dark eyes glimpsed an empty street either side of the alley and he was satisfied enough to rejoin L who he had left under cover of a pile of old boxes ready for collection. Not that he needed much coverage. L was indeed tiny, being six years old and in all honesty neither was Near himself.

To L he probably appeared as another tall teenager but when Near compared himself with others around his age, he was rarely taller than anybody. However this failed to bother him as being a spy for the Oort Cloud required a lot of hiding, and when you naturally don't show the top of your head over the baggage rack of a vehicle when you are tracking someone, the lack of height comes in handy.

The orphan looked up at him as he approached, a small frown upon his shadowed face, "Near, I forgot my shoes." He announced, looking deeply annoyed. Near stood for a second, his expression shocked, then laughed softly and shook his head as he sat down beside the raven-haired boy.

"You don't really need them." Near assured carefully.

"But what if my feet get cold?" L argued.

The comet shifted and placed his hand on the ground above him, motioning for the younger to do the same. When L did he explained, "The main source of energy for comets is sunlight and it is our job to go out and collect it, that's why you can sometimes see us. When we get back, the sunlight is transferred into pipes which travel under the ground to huge factories which send it out to people's homes." L nodded watching the ground as if to see the energy travelling for himself. Near continued, "Naturally, sunlight also has heat energy flowing with it, so the ground is warmed as the energy passes through. Your feet won't get cold because the ground is warm. Can you feel it?"

L's eyebrows rose and he nodded. The ground felt a lot warmer than the ground back on earth and there was no light but a faint glow radiating from Near's body that could warm it otherwise.

"Plus," Near added, "If you don't wear shoes it's a lot harder for people to hear you running." L saw sense in this too and smiled. He took a glance at Near's feet and only then noticed the pale pink toes poking out from underneath the comet's loose white trousers.

"But back to more important things. I need to make a plan." The comet's face turned deadly serious and he watched the floor, thinking intently.

Without needing a prompt, he told L what he knew.

"Before the current king was crowned his father reigned; a man named Soichiro Yagami. He was a good man and all was peaceful under his reign. He married a woman, Sachiko, whom he treated dearly and together they had two children; Light, the eldest and Sayu. All was well and both children grew to be pure idols of grace, intelligence and charm. But rumours and whispers began to spread that Light was becoming corrupted. He was seen less and less during royal outings and when he was, anyone that looked into his eyes reported that they saw the same distant fires of cunning mischief lurking within them.

"Six years ago the King died in an unfortunate accident that people have rumoured to have been set up by Light himself.. Light was then crowned as the new king and since then there has been nothing but discomfort, poverty and crime throughout the Kuiper Belt.

"The case began shortly after Light became king. He began to order new extremely high amounts of sunlight to be brought in at once for the same or less wages. This energy, however, was _not_ being used in favour of the people here, in fact it can be proven that there is even less energy being distributed and yet the cost has almost doubled.

"Light has crippled the people and I don't know why. It is my job to find out what he is using this extra energy for. Currently all I need is evidence towards Light. It isn't necessarily my job to unravel the whole mystery myself but if I did, it would certainly help."

L had gained his frown again. It all sounded complicated and L was worried that he wouldn't be able to help. He barely knew anything, just the basics about the pipes, king and factories! How could he possibly... Pipes!

"Sorry?"

L blinked, taking note of his arms sticking up into the air as though he had just shouted 'eureka!'. Apparently he had shouted _something_ and he had a feeling that this was his thoughts.

"Pipes?" Near looked intrigued, willing the other to carry on.

"Well I just thought that maybe you could follow the pipes and find out where they lead." L felt a little awkward as Near's expression stayed the same rather than burst into an overjoyed smile like he had wanted it to.

"I'm afraid I have already done that. I traced the closest factory and discovered that it was completely sealed off with guards and there was no way I could get in besides a very small window. If I did try a diversion they're all trained enough to know to send out reinforcements to carry on guarding so I – what are you smiling at?" Near had been focusing on the ground as he had spoken, then lifted his head to discover the younger grinning at him happily.

"You've got me! I can get through the window and let you in!"

Near's eyes traced the ground as though he was reading a book, thinking over the ordeal. Slowly, he nodded.

"Yes... that just might work... I think I have a plan."

***-{WITH THE STARS}-* **

Light drove his fists into the closest wall, leaving deep indentations behind. He panted harshly as though he had been running, but this was a sign of his growing rage, humiliation and disappointment. His anger was quickly fuelled to add a guttural snarl as a wheezy laugh echoed behind him.

"You sound like you could use a break." A gruff voice announced. The king turned wildly and threw the closest thing he could reach at the voice. The item smashed against the wall behind it and the voice's head twisted down to look at it's thin leather-coated stomach before chuckling and slowly looking back up at Light.

The creature's face was grey and had bulging yellow eyes surrounded by what could be described as black make-up. It held a permanent almost mocking grin surrounded by black lips and crowded with pointed teeth. Raven black hair stuck up from it's head, matching the black feathers bursting from the thing's shoulders. It's torso appeared to be made of the clothing it wore as silver stitches ran across it's chest where the material began and sank into it's grey skin. It wore a belt decorated with a skull shaped buckle and various chains dangled down from it, one in particular holding a thin black book in a case made of the same black chains. It's long legs were crooked as it stood hunched over in the small candle-lit room. With shadows falling across it's face and the very being itself almost like a shadow, it looked very intimidating.

But not to Light.

He had seen it countless times before and knew not to be afraid of it. He could treat it how he pleased, at least to a certain extent.

"You know throwing things at me doesn't work, or do you just like the sound the vase makes when it hits the wall?" It asked, amused.

Light ignored the question and clenched his fists, "WHY do I have such PATHETIC subjects?" He screeched, "I give them a simple task; capture the spy! They cannot even complete such a meagre task! That spy has already learnt too much, I can't afford to let him learn anything else, not when I am so close to opening the barrier." He wandered around the room turning sharply as he spoke.

"I can't afford to take any chances." He decided suddenly. The dark creature stepped back in surprise, yet it was intrigued and nodded slowly, telling the monarch to continue.

"I'm going to have to kill him."

"You're going to use it?" The creature asked, grinning with interest.

Light nodded slowly, "I have no choice, Ryuk. Either that or I ask _you_ to bring him to me. But there is little point in that, right?"

Ryuk chuckled darkly, "I'm on no-one's side, I just do what the Death Note commands, I'm that kind of Sinigami. Who's to say I wouldn't just follow him and tell him all of your darkest secrets?" His grin widened and Light's scowl increased.

Sinigami the creature was indeed.

Six years ago Light had met the Sinigami and for the first time in his life he had been terrified. The creature that had stood before him was both huge and horrifying at the same time. It had been nothing like anything that the prince had ever seen and had sent him skittering across the floor in panic with just one glance. Nothing should have been able to do that and Light hadn't forgiven Ryuk yet.

The Sinigami were from another dimension and had the power and desire to devour souls in order to take the soul's remaining life span and add it onto their own. They did this at their own leisure, until they were foolish enough to drop their 'contract'. Each Sinigami possessed a thin book known as the Death Note and this was the key to their imprisonment. Should they drop this notebook and let it fall into the hands of another, they were bound to serve the other until they died or willingly gave the Death Note back. Added to the powerful feel of owning a Sinigami, the possessor of the Death Note was able to write down the name of a person and as long as the writer had the victim's face pictured clearly in their minds; that person would be devoured.

Ryuk had purposefully dropped his Death Note. He had two. One was given to him by a friend as he died thus he had full ownership of it.

The Sinigami was adventurous and curious and admittedly bored of the Sinigami realm, so had dropped his second Death Note and followed it, meeting Light Yagami, formerly the prince the Kuiper Belt. Ryuk had taken a liking to the teen; he was smart, cunning and had a hidden desire to rule over the Universe as a God.

Happily, Ryuk had told him of the Sinigami realm and how each of the Sinigami were terrifying in their own way and could be released into the dimension without dropping their Death Notes. This would be achieved through a portal of immense power and would take up hoards of energy just to open it. Light immediately took up the challenge and began to work out his scheme to bring forth the most terrifying creatures to do his bidding and scare everyone into bowing down to him as God. Ryuk had chuckled silently, but with a dark look that meant he knew something that Light didn't, but he wasn't going to share it with the teen.

Not until he asked why the Sinigami always had a reason to grin as he did.

Light's scowl turned into a smirk, "You'll have plenty of time to tell him then, as I leave it up to _you_ to devour him." He stepped up towards a small table surrounded by the candles that lit the room around them. On the cushion lay a thin black book similar to that held in chains from Ryuk's belt.

Light carefully lifted the cover to unveil blank white writing pages. Carefully, he took a long thin white stick and dipped it into a pool of black ink lying in a circular basin beside it. He brought the ink to the page and wrote out the letters:

N, E, A, R.


	11. Chapter 11: Pipes

With the Stars – Death Note Fanfic

Genre: Sci-fi/Friendship

Rating: K+

_**Disclaimer:** _I do not own Death Note. This is purely fan made and I do not wish to use this to make profits of any kind.

**Thankyou so much to my reviewers and favouriters!**

**dancers of the night**

**ReLiC AnGeL  
**

**Chapter 11: Pipes**

Near's plan was simple enough. In theory it seemed almost unlikely to fail but they would need to wait to see how it really faired in reality. It was decided that Near would take both L and himself to the closest energy collection factory. There they would collect the photographic evidence Near needed to strengthen his argument in the case using a small device the comet had hidden in the folds of his collar to gather such photographs.

Near stood dutifully and checked either side of the alleyway before coming to a halt and frowning down at the warm ground. His dark eyes wandered briefly up to the young orphan and his scowl deepened.

L had been watching the comet's actions and this concerned him slightly. Not two minutes ago Near had been almost leaping with the joyous prospect of being able to enter one of the main factories to collect evidence against Light; now he was deep in frowning concern and the occasional glances from those cool haematite eyes told the younger boy that he was most likely to be the cause of this. L decided to voice his anxiety, "Near, what's wrong?"  
L had expected Near to snap out of his trance and smile up at him, telling him that he was worried for L's safety and did L really want to go through with everything? Naturally L would reply with a determined 'Of course I am!' and off the two would fly to save the comet's world... but that was far too cliché for his predicament.

Rather than the desired 'snapping' effect, Near's face remained impassive and dark as it turned mechanically to face L. The expressionless ivory burned itself into L's mind and, to be truthful, it scared him. He was used to a happy and brightly shimmering Near, but now he faced a dark and eerily glowing one.

When he spoke, Near's voice was deadly serious, "L, I understand that you want to assist me but I must confess I have my doubts. This mission is extremely important and if I fail it terrible things _will_ happen. That is why I must warn you... for your own safety as much as my own gains.. If I feel like you are slowing me down, I will leave you."

***-{WITH THE STARS}-* **

"Do NOT fail me!"

A chorus of "Yes Sir!"s rang out in front of him before the crowd of black clothed men dispersed and he was left standing beside the back of the midnight blue van with the word 'POLICE' written boldly across the side in white.

The dark haired chief held his head to soothe a forming headache. His eyes were closed and head crumpled into a frown as he did so. He remained in such a position even when a small voice called out to him, "Chief, you really should take a break." The young man said, walking up beside the older police officer. Smiling ever so slightly Shijuro opened his eyes again.

"Masuda my boy, if I did that this case would not be solved quickly enough." He looked over to his assistant who looked a little sheepish for suggesting the idea and his smile widened.

"Don't worry. As soon as all of this is over I'll take a long holiday and come back without a dark circle in sight." Shijuro turned and looked up to the gleaming blue sky dreamily, "Perhaps to the Titan Ringlet like we did on Sayu's 9th birthday. The people of Saturn are so nice and the atmosphere is a lot more peaceful." he hummed to himself. Matsuda smiled.

"That sounds wonderful, Chief." he chimed brightly.

"Yes. I'll keep the thought in mind and get this case over with." The chief's eyes flickered with angry determination and he moved his focus back to his horizon. Matsuda gave a slightly exasperated smile with a hushed sigh and handed Shijuro a thick black gun he had been holding.

"Hopefully I won't have to use this.." he muttered softly, holding it up in a position that made him ready to fire at any time, "I know he's the enemy, but he's younger than my son.." he continued looking across at his assistant with eyes that begged the man to understand. In response Matsuda nodded firmly and the chief faced forward again then took off into a sprint after his men.

Matsuda watched until his boss turned a corner then turned back to step into the van. He had seen the chief off on many occasions and it was always the same; the man never wanted to hurt anyone. He was a truly good man and his heart was great enough for three men to share. Hence why Matsuda's idol for a long time had been Shijuro Asahi or as he was formerly known: Soichiro Yagami. It was a shame that his son wasn't quite as kind-hearted as his father.

To many it was also a wonder why Soichiro gave up the position of king and even faked his own death to get rid of the position. It had killed him inside to have to leave his wife and daughter behind but after growing a beard, swapping his glasses for contact lenses and hiding his wedding ring in a place for him to take out and cherish when he needed it; he left their memory and joined the police force. He had told only Matsuda this story and the young man had sworn to keep it a secret. The truth was that Soichiro didn't want to be king. In his throne he had seen his kingdom and ruled over them as best as he could, but crimes still happened every day and more and more of his people were getting hurt. All he could do was watch over the police force and try to conduct their activities. But in the end, decisions and actions were made by the chief of the police and at times it didn't feel like he had power. His son lusted for his power and, wishing the best for his children: he decided to give his son the crown. It would have put shame to the Royal Family's name to simply give up the position, so Soichiro planned his 'death' in order to give the prince utmost respect from the people of the Kuiper Belt and to earn his own freedom from his royal duties. Needless to say it went perfectly and not one person recognised him now. He'd given himself a new name - Shijuro Asahi - to complete the guise and from that day he committed himself to ensuring justice was served through his own hands and nothing would stop him doing so until the last breath left his body.

Matsuda sighed quietly. If anyone knew dedication it was Soichiro and that was what made him a true and good man.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-* **

Near bent to his knees and L jumped up onto his back so the comet could carry him without too much worry of him slipping out of his grasp in mid-flight. Near had decided to fly to the factories to be swifter and he would fly close to the ground to avoid being seen in the skies which were undoubtedly being watched. It also kept L safer should he fall.

He began to run across the ground, ducking his body low and taking tiny steps in rapid succession. His body lowered to be almost horizontal before his feet stopped hitting the ground and he shot through the streets, now airborne.

He felt L's grip tighten as he darted along streets and tightly curved around corners. The faster he could get to the evidence, the easier everything would be when he revealed everything. If the police decided to appear before he had the chance to find his proof all hope of him revealing Light for what he really was looked to be lost. He had little faith in the idea that he wasn't being watched at that very moment and had a constant nagging feeling that someone somewhere was watching him, listening to him, following him and Near wasn't the superstitious or paranoid type, so these strange feelings often proved to be correct.

He focused forward and made sure that he kept a safe and constant speed so that anyone who may have spotted him would double take to see nothing but the empty air he had left behind. The main Power Plant was located in the southern part of the town and to walk it could take a good forty minutes, but as he touched the ground again in a small alley between buildings on the Plant's site, he clocked in at just ten minutes. He mentally smirked at the achievement as he dropped to his knee and let L slide off his back and mimic his pose.

Near's dark eyes flickered out to survey their surroundings briefly. He narrowed them for a second before he found L once again, "You are to follow my every order. This is crucial." he commanded in a hushed voice. L nodded with a determined, furrowed brow. "This is going to be my one and only chance at getting evidence, if I lose it, everything is lost. Do you understand that?" Again L nodded sharply. Satisfied, Near looked away again – checking.

He turned back to L and pointed up at a window, "That window there opens into a small cloakroom. The door you'll need to open for me to get in is at the end of the corridor just outside the cloakroom." L nodded.

"And I mustn't be seen. Got it." L stood and looked up at the window. Near also stood and grabbed the younger boy to hold him up to the window. L grabbed hold of the small ledge and hauled himself up and through it nimbly. Thankfully the window was propped open and he fit through the gap nicely. Near lowered his hands and quickly moved around the building to the door to wait for the child.

He kept a keen eye on his surroundings and pressed himself to the wall to make himself as low profile and small as he could.

After a few painfully long minutes the door opened and revealed the tiny raven haired boy and within a second, it was closed again; the comet now successfully inside and already analysing the situation carefully. Without a word he began to move down the corridor swiftly and understanding the need for silence, L followed closely behind without a single utterance.

The corridor was grey and uniform doors stood along the walls, decorated with simple black wording to tell the names of the rooms within. Near used them to his advantage and they enabled him to locate the power transmission room. It was full of pipes and looked a lot like the engine room of some kind of ship or submarine, but after reading through countless blue prints and floor plans of these kinds of rooms, Near felt somewhat in comfort.

He closed the door behind them and pulled a plastic crate in front of it. L watched him do so with a hint of confusion showing that Near caught sight of, "This will scrape along the floor if anyone comes in. It's an advantage we'll need." he explained with an almost silent voice. L nodded in understanding.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-* **

Shijuro had spotted the white blur out of the corner of his eye. It was just a glimpse but it was enough to alert him and set him on what proved to be a successful route towards capturing the boy. He couldn't meet the boy face to face, unfortunately he was TOO quick for that, but he managed to inform the squad of his findings and now every member was on alert and searching for him.

Shijuro panted harshly as he ran through the streets along with a group of two other men, the others having split off to search. He was adamant that he would find the young foreigner. For the greater good of his people and for the sake of his own sanity. He couldn't let injustice happen and not do a thing about it. The very thought drove him mad. He needed to protect his people and his family. Should the Kuiper Belt become overrun with crime, the people would turn to the monarchy to blame and he couldn't have his family treated badly. That was why this comet must be caught. Shijuro wouldn't stand for anything less.

A buzz in his ear made him lift his hand up to prod a button and listen to the crackling voice over the speaker, _'Chief we have sightings of a white comet over by the central factory, sir.' _Asahi's eyes showed a brief flicker of an overjoyed emotion before his control took over and he began to call out his commands.

"Excellent. Aizawa, take your group and surround all exits of the building. Call in to all other members of the squad and order them to do the same. Do not let ANYONE exit that building, understood?"

_'Yes sir'_ the connection fizzled out and the Chief repeated Aizawa's findings to the two men beside him. They nodded and took a turn at the end of their current street. Behind them, a dark look had appeared on Shijuro's face and determination was set into him deeply.

He had him cornered.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-* **

Near followed various sets of pipes with his eyes and stepped slowly down to the end of the room. L tried to do the same beside him; trying hard not to get lost in the maze of pipes, dials and wheels. Near's eyes looked so calculative and it inspired L to try to copy him. His eyes, however, remained frantic and rather than the cool and almost blank expression covering Near's face: L's face was frantic and rather confused. He was concentrating so hard that Near's sudden 'Look!' made him jump out of his skin almost literally.

Still a little shaken, he turned to the comet and tried to hide the fact that he had made the younger boy jump so much. Luckily, Near's attention was elsewhere. His coal black eyes were fixed on a thick junction almost completely hidden by a tall, sealed vat and another handful of pipes. Somehow, L felt that this was intended to be hidden.

"That isn't supposed to be there. There should only be one main pipe leading into this vat and instead there are two." Near explained. If L tried really hard, he could pick out the slightest hints of excitement in the older boy's voice and said boy took out a tiny metal device from underneath his collar. L followed as he stepped up to the new discovery and the device flashed brightly. Near began to follow the out-of-place pipe and the device flashed again several times before they came to a second stop in front of another sealed vat.

Near narrowed his eyes as he stared at it and, feeling the need to contribute, L did the same. He looked at everything he could and studied each and every minor detail that he could find. His eyes widened as something caught his eye.

"Near, that pipe there is blocked." he cried, pointing to a pipe supposedly leading into the vat. Yet Near didn't appear to be listening all too well. He looked distracted. After a moment and offering the smallest hint of a smile, Near finally turned to him and nodded.

"Yes.. Which means there must be another pipe leading out of it somewhere. I need you to climb up around to the back of this vat, do you think you can do that for me?" he asked. L smiled brightly and nodded eagerly. Near's smile also widened if only a little and he carefully placed his small metal device into L's tiny palm.

"Take a few pictures of anything you find with this. You need to press the silver button to take the picture but be careful not to press the red button, because that deletes all the files. The blue button acts like a projector and shows the pictures blown up, so make sure to use the right button, okay?" L nodded in understanding and quickly checked over the device to find the buttons. Finding them, he scrambled up behind the pipes and ducked behind the vat.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-* **

Shijuro pressed his back against the door, "No-one is to leave the building, no matter who they are. Understand?" The black haired man in front of him nodded and the chief pushed open the factory door, allowing several other men to run inside. He followed them swiftly and ran past them as they kicked open closed doors and scanned the rooms. With each shout of 'room clear!' he became more and more focused on finding the spy and the thought that he was getting very close began to excite him.

He kicked open his own door and revealed a room full of pipes and sealed vats. The power transmission room. His eyes scanned it and a burst of adrenaline hit him when he saw the white figure only just obscured by the pipes.

"Target sighted!" he yelled, charging into the room with his gun high in his grasp and pointed at the white head of the intruder. Men followed his lead and soon the boy was surrounded, holding up his hands.

"I can assure you, you are mistaken of accusing me of wrong doing." he said calmly and the chief mentally scoffed.

"Son, you're under arrest and you will be taken to the highest court. We know what you have done and you will not convince us otherwise." he assured the comet.

***-{WITH THE STARS}-* **

L jumped once again in fright as a door burst open behind him. He heard yells and heavy footsteps, then the calm voice of Near, "L, don't reveal yourself under any circumstances."

L could feel himself shivering, but he obliged and pressed himself to the sealed vat and listened to the voices instead. He heard Near first, then the voice of an older man that reminded him somewhat of Roger. Near argued back but remained calm.

"You have been told lies, I can assure you."  
"Lies from the king, eh? You will be silent."

"I have the right to express my point of view and I would appreciate it if you would consider that."

"You have the right to remain silent until questioned further, discussions will not be placed here."

"I object." A thud sounded and a series of shouts and more thuds followed it. When everything fell silent again, L heard faint clicks and chinks, then the man spoke again.

"Take him to his majesty."

"Yes sir!" More footsteps sounded and they gradually faded as the men walked away.

L peered out from his hiding spot tentatively and caught sight of his friend. His head hung limply against his chest as he was dragged away in handcuffs by armed policemen.

L was alone.


End file.
